Kris Kristofferson

Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame
2013 Inductee

From Rhodes Scholar to Army Airborne Ranger to legendary Nashville and Hollywood star, the path Kris Kristofferson’s life has taken is as diverse as the successes he has enjoyed in his more than 50 years in the entertainment industry.

Born in Texas of Swedish heritage, and raised in a military family, Kristofferson had a promising military career of his own in th emid-1960s. But he eventually surrendered to a different calling, moving to Nashville to pursue his love of music.

Kristofferson’s first triumph in the industry was as a writer, with songs like “Me and Bobby McGee”, “Help Me Make It Through The Night”, “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and “For The Good Times” all topping th echarts in the 1970s. By 1987, it was estimated that more than 450 artists had recorded his compositions.

His success as a songwriter triggered a successful career as a performer – and that, in turn, caught the attention of Hollywood. Krisofferson’s acting career took off in the ’70s when he earned a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role opposite Barbra Streisand in “A Star is Born”. To date, Krisofferson has appeared in more than 70 films while building on his success as a country music artist whose refrains explore love, gratitude, aging, war, along with his ever-present theme of freedom.

Many prestigious awards, including three GRAMMY awards and the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, more than two dozen albums (three with friends Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson as the “Highwaymen”), three decades of performing worldwide tours and one induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame later, Kris Kristofferson is truely the stuff of entertainment legend – and an “artist’s artist”.

Kristofferson and his wife, Lisa, are parents to eight children.