Utoo Radio with Other News Sources, September 29, 2024 - Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar and country music superstar, has passed away at the age of 88. He was born in Brownsville, Texas. 

Kristofferson wrote classic songs such as "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," "Help Me Make it Through the Night," "For the Good Times," and "Me and Bobby McGee."

Many of his songs were performed by others, such as Ray Price and Janis Joplin. He also starred in films like "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "A Star Is Born," and "Blade."

Kristofferson was known for his intricate folk music lyrics about loneliness and tender romance, which were influenced by Bob Dylan.

He represented a new breed of country songwriters alongside peers like Willie Nelson, John Prine, and Tom T. Hall. As an actor, he played the leading man opposite Barbara Streisand and Ellen Burstyn, but also had a fondness for shoot-out Westerns and cowboy dramas.

Kristofferson was a Golden Gloves boxer and football player in college, received a master's degree in English from Merton College at the University of Oxford, and turned down an appointment to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to pursue songwriting in Nashville.

He worked as a part-time janitor at Columbia Records' Music Row studio in 1966 when Dylan recorded tracks for the seminal "Blonde on Blonde" double album.

One of Kristofferson's most recorded songs, "Me and Bobby McGee," was written based on a recommendation from Monument Records founder Fred Foster.

The song was inspired by a Frederico Fellini film, "La Strada."

Kristostofferson married fellow songwriter Rita Coolidge in 1973 and they had a successful duet career that earned them two Grammy awards. They divorced in 1980.

He retired from performing and recording in 2021, making only occasional guest appearances on stage.