Kris Kristofferson Dead At 88

Legendary country singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson has died at the age of 88, family spokeswoman Ebie McFarland confirmed to the Associated Press Sunday (September 29) evening.

Kristofferson reportedly died peacefully, surrounded by his family at his home on Maui, Hawaii, according to McFarland. No cause of death was given at the time of publication Sunday evening.

Kristofferson penned numerous iconic country and folk songs including Me and Bobby McGee , For the Good Times , Sunday Morning' Comin' Down and Help Me Make It Through The Night , which all found success for other legendary artists. The Texas native would later join fellow country music icons Johnny Cash , Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to form the supergroup The Highwaymen in 1985.

“There’s no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson,” Nelson said an award ceremony held by BMI honoring Kristofferson in November 2009 via the AP . “Everything he writes is a standard and we’re all just going to have to live with that.”

Kristofferson also shined on the silver screen, starring opposite Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974); opposite Barbra Streisand in A Star is Born (1976); and alongside Wesley Snipes in Blade (1998). The singer-songwriter was also a Golden Gloves boxer and football player in college prior to pursuing a songwriting career in Nashville.