kris kristofferson tour history

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Kris Kristofferson

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Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American writer, singer-songwriter, actor, and musician. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Kristofferson is the sole writer of most of his songs, but he has collaborated with various other figures of the Nashville scene.

Born in Brownsville, TX

Kris Kristofferson is born in Brownsville, Texas, two miles from the Mexican border. Early in life, he learns to sing in Spanish.

Published in Atlantic Monthly

At the age of 18, two of Kris’s compositions, “Gone Are the Days,” and “The Rock,” are published in Atlantic Monthly after the budding writer wins a short story contest.

Appears in Sports Illustrated

Appears in Sports Illustrated for achievements in rugby, football, and track & field.

Releases Debut Album

“Kristofferson,” Kris’s debut album is released on Monument records in April of 1970. The album features iconic hits “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” “For The Good Times,” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.”

“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” Goes #1

Johnny Cash takes Kris’s song “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart.

Song of the Year

“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” wins Song of the Year honors at the Country Music Awards.

Ray Price Releases “For The Good Times”

Ray Price releases his album “For The Good Times,” which peaks at No. 1 on Billboard Country Album charts.  The title track, written by Kris, is a signature song for Price.

“Help Me Make It Through The Night” Goes #1

Sammi Smith soars to No. 1 on the country charts with her interpretation of Kris’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” The single won the GRAMMY for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.

“Me and Bobby McGee” Goes #1

Posthumously, Kris’s close friend Janis Joplin peaks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with Kris’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”

Stars in “Cisco Pike”

Kris stars in his first film, “Cisco Pike,” which also features Gene Hackman and Harry Dean Stanton.

Wins GRAMMY Award for Best Country Song

Three of Kris’s songs are nominated nominated in the Best Country Song category at the GRAMMYs: “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” “For The Good Times,” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”  “Help Me Make It Through The Night” wins the GRAMMY. “Me and Bobby McGee” is also nominated in the all genre Song of the Year category.

Stars as “Billy the Kid”

Kris plays Billy the Kid in “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” directed by Sam Peckinpah and featuring Bob Dylan.

“Why Me Lord” Goes #1

Kris’ “Why Me Lord” peaks at No. 1

Nominated for CMA Single and Song of the Year

“Why Me Lord” is nominated for Single and Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards

#1 on Billboard Country Chart

“Jesus Was A Capricorn” is the No. 1 Country Album on the Billboard chart.

Nominated for Two GRAMMY Awards

“Why Me Lord” is nominated for two GRAMMY Awards: Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, and Best Country Song

Nominated for ACM Song of the Year

“One Day At A Time” is nominated for Song Of The Year at Academy of Country Music Awards.

Stars in “A Star Is Born”

The iconic film “A Star Is Born,” starring Kris and Barbra Streisand, is released.

Stars in “Convoy”

Kris stars in the cult trucker film “Convoy.”

Cristy Lane’s “One Day At A Time” Goes #1

“One Day At A Time,” co-written by Kris, becomes a No. 1 song for Cristy Lane.

Stars in “Songwriter”

“Songwriter,” a film starring Kris and Willie Nelson is released. The film goes on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song Score and Adaptation Score for Kristofferson.

The Highwaymen Debut

Debut of the supergroup The Highwaymen, featuring Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris.

“Highwayman” Goes #1

“Highwayman” by The Highwaymen peaks at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart.  It ends up at No. 5 overall for the year of 1985.

Hosts Country Music Awards

Kris hosts the CMA Awards with Anne Murray at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. The Highwaymen are nominated for Music Video and Single of the Year for “Highwayman.”

“Highwayman” Nominated for GRAMMY Award

“Highwayman” (the single) is nominated for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group at the GRAMMYs.

Single Record of the Year Award at the ACMs

The Highwaymen receive the Single Record of the Year Award at the ACMs. They are also nominated for Album and Music Video of the Year.

Releases “Repossessed”

Kris releases “Repossessed.” The album is produced by Chips Moman.

Featured in “Big Top Pee-Wee”

Kris is featured in the film “Big Top Pee-Wee.”

Releases “Third World Warrior” Album

Kris releases “Third World Warrior,” which contains several political songs which make him persona non grata in Nashville.

Nominated for Best Country Vocal Collaboration

The Highwaymen’s “Highwayman 2” album is nominated for Best Country Vocal Collaboration at the 33 rd Annual Grammy Awards in NYC.

Releases “A Moment of Forever” Album

Kris releases the album “A Moment of Forever,” produced by Don Was.

Stars in “Lone Star”

Kris and Matthew McConaughey star in John Sayles’s “Lone Star.”

Stars in “Blade”

Kris, as Whistler, stars with Wesley Snipes in “Blade.”

Stars in “Blade II”

Kris revives his role as Whistler in “Blade II,” co-starring with Wesley Snipes.

Receives Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award

The Americana Honors & Awards honors Kris with the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award.

Inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame

Kris Kristofferson is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame

Stars in “Blade III”

Kris revives his role as Whistler, for the third and final time, in Wesley Snipes’s “Blade III.”

Releases “This Old Road” Album

New West Records releases “This Old Road,” Kris’s first album of new material in 11 years. Produced by Don Was.

Receives Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award

Kris receives the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award at the ACM Awards

Appears in “He’s Just Not That Into You”

Kris plays Jennifer Anniston’s father in the film “He’s Just Not That Into You.”

Releases “Closer to the Bone” Album

New West Records releases “Closer to the Bone,” an album produced by Don Was.

Receives BMI Icon Award

BMI honors Kris with the prestigious BMI Icon Award.

Stars in “A Dolphin’s Tale”

Kris stars in the children’s classic “A Dolphin Tale,” with Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr.

Releases “Feeling Mortal”

Kris releases “Feeling Mortal,” the first album on his own KK Records label.

Receives ACM Poet’s Award

The Academy of Country Music gives Kris it’s coveted Poet’s Award at the ACM Honors.

Receives GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award

Kris receives a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 57 th Annual GRAMMYs

Appears in “Texas Rising”

Kris plays President Andrew Jackson in “Texas Rising,” a 10-hour miniseries about the Texas Rangers.

Nominated for Best Americana Album

Kris’s album “The Cedar Creek Sessions” is nominated for Best Americana Album at the GRAMMYs.

CMA Lifetime Achievement Award

The CMA honors Kris with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson is a Country Music Hall of Famer who ranks among the most versatile of American talents. He’s been a Golden Gloves boxer, a Rhodes scholar, a college football player, an acclaimed actor, a military officer, a helicopter pilot, a Grammy-winner, a screw-up and an icon, and now he finds himself releasing the third Don Was-produced album in a twilight years trilogy. Feeling Mortal follows 2009’s Closer To The Bone and 2006’s This Old Road in examining hard-won grace.

In the Nashville beginning, Kristofferson threw away a promising military career in favor of life as what he sometimes calls, “A songwriting bum.” He had excelled at most everything he’d ever tried, save for singing and songwriting, but it was the singing and the writing that called to him. He wound up penning classics including “Me and Bobby McGee”, “Help Me Make It Through the Night”, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, and “For The Good Times” as well as a slew of other empathetic, incisive gems. Kristofferson-along with contemporaries Tom T. Hall, Mickey Newbury, Willie Nelson and John Prine-enhanced the scope of country music songwriting, focusing on layering, nuance, empathy and emotional truth.

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The Life and Times of Kris Kristofferson

by Monica Piccinni ‐ March 31, 2017

photo: Bruce Talamon/New Line Cinema

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Kris Kristofferson has achieved a legendary acting and music career.  See how much you know about this talented actor, song writer, and country singer.

American singer, songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, TX in 1936. His grandparents emigrated to the United States from Sweden, where his grandfather served as an officer in the Swedish Army. His father, who also made a career out of the military, moved their family around quite a bit before settling down in San Mateo, CA. Here, Kristofferson graduated high school at San Mateo High School.

College / Post-Grad

After high school, Kris Kristofferson enrolled in Ponoma College, where he had a very successful rugby, football and track and field career. He graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

He later recieved a scholarship to Oxford University, where he studied at Merton College. He continued his athletic career while also beginning to write songs on the side. It was during his years at Oxford that he began recording, though he saw little success.

After college, Kristofferson followed in his father and grandfathers footsteps and joined the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot. During this time, he continued his music career and formed a small band while on his tour of duty. After his tour ended, he chose to further pursue a career in songwriting.

He moved to Nashville and worked a variety of odd jobs while writing songs, including working as a commercial helicopter pilot. His persistance paid off, and by 1966 he wrote several successful songs, performed mostly by other artists. With the help of introduction from Johnny Cash at the Newport Folk Festival, he was able to achieve success as a performer.

Throughout the 70’s, Kris Kristofferson’s recordings saw huge successes and his compositions remained in high demand. He recorded with several other famous artists, including Ray Price, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. His work received several awards and honors before he made a transition to film. His acting career. This part of his life was a massive success as well, as he appeared in over 20 films from the 70’s until most recently in 2013.

Kristofferson’s career flourished later in his life with partnerships, including one with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Brenda Lee. He later formed a supergroup of sorts with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash under the name “The Highwaymen.”

This partnership along with his acting career kept Kristofferson’s fame afloat from the 90’s on, as his solo career had significantly slipped. In 2004, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and continued to receive many awards and recognitions for his past work through the early 2000’s. Though few and far in between, Kristofferson has continued to release work, most recently was in 2015 with his album “The Cedar Creek Sessions,” which received a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. It is reported that he is currently struggling with Lyme Disease.

Currently, Kris Kristofferson is on tour, appearing at several different venues across the U.S. and Canada, with a few shows in Denmark, from now until June 2018. Catch Kris Kristofferson is in a city near you.

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Kris Kristofferson

Upcoming kris kristofferson festivals appearances, upcoming kris kristofferson concerts near me.

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Johnny Cash Once Demanded That Kris Kristofferson, A Janitor At His Record Label, Be Allowed To Sit In On Recording Session

Can you imagine a talent as great as  Kris Kristofferson  working as a janitor at a recording studio?

The legendary artist and songwriter behind iconic songs like “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down,” “Me & Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” took quite the road to country music stardom.

A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Kristofferson got a Bachelor’s of Philosophy degree in English literature before joining the United States Army. He would complete Ranger school and become a helicopter pilot (a skill that would serve him well later in his music career), but after completing a tour in Germany, Kristofferson decided to leave the military and move to Nashville to pursue a career in songwriting.

As anybody who moves to Nashville for a career in the music business knows, it’s not as easy as just showing up and becoming a superstar – even for somebody as talented as Kris Kristofferson.

Burdened with debt from paying for his young son’s medical bills, Kristofferson took a job working as a janitor at Columbia Records. And it was this job that eventually gave him the opportunity to get the attention of one of the biggest names in country music,  Johnny Cash .

Kristofferson would meet June Carter and ask her to give his demos to Johnny Cash, but they often ended up in a pile with all of the other demos he was being pitched.

Eventually though, the janitor managed to set himself apart as a songwriter and finally got the Man in Black’s attention. In fact, Cash was such a fan that Kristofferson recalls one time that Cash refused to go into a recording session unless Kristofferson was in the room.

It all started with Kristofferson being banned from Johnny’s recording sessions:

“I almost got fired one time because a couple of songwriters crashed the session, and they were trying to pitch him a gospel album. And for some reason the woman who was the secretary to the producer blamed me for letting them in there and tried to get me fired.

And so the next night my boss came down and said “I don’t think you should go to John’s session tonight,” which was heartbreaking for me because I lived for those recording sessions.

But I understood it.”

But Cash wasn’t happy to find out that Kristofferson wouldn’t be sitting in on the recording session:

“I hid down in the vault of the recording studio and was erasing tapes down there or doing some kind of busy work, and John appeared down there in the basement.

He said “I understand you’re not coming to the session.”

I said “No, I’ve got a lot of work to do down here, I can’t.”

He said “Well I just wanted to tell you I’m not gonna record until you come up there.”

So I had to go up and sit on the floor.”

Yeah, I’d say that if Johnny Cash says he’s not going to record until you’re in the studio, it doesn’t matter what anybody else says: You get to the studio.

Kristofferson says the experience was “uncomfortable,” because the same woman who tried to get him fired was also in the studio:

“And here I was, the janitor, and I’m sitting on the floor and this woman who tried to get me fired was watching me the whole session. It was the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in my life.”

But Kristofferson says the whole experience was just an example of who Cash really was: Somebody who wasn’t afraid to stand up for the little guy.

“But I thought it was the measure of the man. He’s always stood up for the underdog.

And that’s something I’ve tried to live up to. He’s been a good example.”

It’s hard to think of a prolific songwriter like Kris Kristofferson as ever being “the underdog.” But back in those days, he was just the janitor at the record label – yet Johnny Cash recognized his greatness so much that he insisted the janitor join him in the recording studio.

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Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge Concert Setlists & Tour Dates

Kris kristofferson & rita coolidge at havana jam.

• (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
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Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge at U.N. General Assembly Hall, New York, NY, USA

• Fallen Angel

Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge at The Bottom Line, New York, NY, USA

• Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)
• How Do You Feel About Foolin' Around
• Casey's Last Ride
• Shandy (The Perfect Disguise)
• Living Legend
• It's Never Gonna Be the Same Again
• Sabre and the Rose
• Song and Dance
• We Had It All
• For the Good Times
• Help Me Make It Through the Night
• Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
• The Silver Tongued Devil and I
• Smile at Me Again
• Prove It to You One More Time
• The Bigger the Fool, the Harder the Fall

Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge at LSU Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Kris kristofferson & rita coolidge at the summit, houston, tx, usa.

• Risky Bizness
• Sweet Inspiration
• The Pilgrim, Chapter 33
• We're All Alone
• Bye, Bye Love

Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge at DuQuoin State Fair 1978

Kris kristofferson & rita coolidge at wings stadium, kalamazoo, mi, usa, kris kristofferson & rita coolidge at birmingham-jefferson civic center coliseum, birmingham, al, usa, kris kristofferson & rita coolidge at the omni, atlanta, ga, usa.

Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge

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Most played songs

• Help Me Make It Through the Night ( 10 )
• Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) ( 7 )
• For the Good Times ( 6 )
• Me and Bobby McGee ( 6 )
• Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down ( 6 )

More Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge statistics

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Artists covered

Bee Gees William Bell Eddie Cooley Rita Coolidge The Crickets Tom Jans Waylon Jennings Kris Kristofferson Willie Nelson & Kris Kristofferson Randy Newman Dan Penn Boz Scaggs Billy Swan The Temptations T‐Bone Walker Jackie Wilson

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Famous Veteran: Kris Kristofferson

Country music legend and  Army veteran Kris Kristofferson has a list of accomplishments so long, it might be faster to list off things he hasn't done.

He was an Army brat and brother to a naval aviator, so it was only natural that Kristofferson would find himself in the military. But his life both before and after the military has been more than interesting; it's downright legendary.

In his younger years, Kristofferson was an accomplished athlete, skilled at rugby and American football. He also was a Golden Gloves amateur boxer. Pretty much anything that required giving or taking a beating, he was up to it.

For anyone who might be thinking he was a dumb young jock turned country star, think again. Kristofferson studied literature at California's Pomona College, where he became a Rhodes Scholar. He carried on his literature studies at Oxford's Merton College, where he continued boxing. Upon graduating from college, he joined the U.S. Army.

Kris Kristofferson: Soldier in the US Army

Joining the Army in 1960, Kristofferson earned his Ranger tab before becoming a helicopter pilot, which was critical in getting his country music career off the ground (more on that later). He reached the rank of captain during his service. In the meantime, he was making music and formed his own band while stationed in Germany.

Kristofferson was offered the prestigious position of teaching literature at  West Point in 1965, but turned it down and left the Army. It was a move that caused his family, full of veterans, to disown him. His first wife divorced him four years later, which is some prime country music songwriting fodder.

It was finally time for Kristofferson to focus on music. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked as a janitor and flew helicopters for oil rigs. He also worked in construction and fought forest fires in Alaska, anything he could do to keep focused on the music. It also was good experience  from which to draw country music inspiration .

As he turned 30 years old, he was still moonlighting as a janitor in Nashville recording studios, strategically dropping demo tapes onto desks and hoping they would get into the hands of some of the biggest names in country music.

Army Training Lands Him in the History Books ...

... also at Johnny Cash's house. By now, we know Kristofferson learned to fly helicopters in the Army and ran into financial trouble while trying to make it in country music. In a big gamble, he stole a helicopter, flew to Cash's house and landed on the Man in Black's front lawn.

In retrospect, Kristofferson admits he's lucky Cash didn't try to shoot him down with a shotgun. Instead, the icon listened to his demo for "Sunday Morning Coming Down." Cash liked it so much, he recorded it and Kristofferson took the first step toward becoming a country music legend.

Now "lifted from obscurity" (as Kristofferson puts it), he wrote some of his biggest hits, including "Vietnam Blues," "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Me and Bobby McGee." Later, he would form The Highwaymen, a country music supergroup composed of himself, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

There are few country music stars that Kristofferson hasn't worked with or influenced during his career, even to this day. His music fame led him to the silver screen, where he appeared in 119 roles, including the "Blade" trilogy, the third remake of "A Star Is Born" and the History Channel miniseries "Texas Rising."

Kristofferson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and has earned more than 48 Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) country and pop awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and received the Veteran of the Year Award at the American Veteran Awards in 2011, with fellow country legend and vet Willie Nelson presenting the honor.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at [email protected]. He can also be found on Twitter  @blakestilwell or  on Facebook .

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Top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs

Photo: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs list takes a look at one of the most famous names in show business. Known originally as a songwriter, Kris Kristofferson also celebrated a successful recording career. Early on, Kris Kristofferson enjoyed success as a songwriter composing multiple number one hits for various artists in the late 1960s. In 1970, Kris Kristofferson released his first studio album filled with his own versions of his hit songs and many more. Throughout his career Kris Kristofferson would collaborate with multiple musical artists including a run of albums with his wife Rita Coolidge .  In 1985, he formed the group The Highwayman with Johnny Cash , Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

Kris Kristofferson also appeared in multiple motion pictures as an actor. His most famous role was co-starring with Barbra Streisand in the 1975 motion picture A Star Is Born . A brilliant performance that some thought was inspired by his relationship with Janis Joplin , although the film was indeed a remake.

Our Top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs list presents a variety of Kris Kristofferson songs focusing on his material as a songwriter with a few exceptions. The list includes songs recorded by Kris Kristofferson as well as some of the artists who made his songs famous.

# 10 – Border Lord

We open up our Top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs list with one of the songwriter’s most underrated songs. The brilliant song “Border Lord,” was released on Kris Kristofferson’s third solo album also entitled Border Lord . The album was released in 1972. This one is dark, moody and so captivating. The song was written by Kris Kristofferson  Stephen Bruton, Donnie Fritts and Terry Paul,

# 9 – Highwayman

We had to include this one. This great Grammy Award winning song entitled “Highwayman,” was recorded in 1985 with the group The Highwaymen, It was a legendary collaboration between Kris Kristofferson,  Johnny Cash , Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, Four legendary artists coming together in a group that was sort of an outlaw version of the Traveling Wilburys. Four of country music biggest stars of all time forming a supergroup for the ages. The four legends released three albums as the Highwaymen. The great song “Highwayman,” was written by another songwriting legend named Mr. Jimmy Webb. This one went straight to number one on the Country music charts.

# 8 – The Taker

At number eight on this top 10 Kris Kristofferson songs list is the great Kris Kristofferson song ‘The Taker.” The song was released on Kris Kristofferson’s debut album entitled Kristofferson . Presented here is the great Waylon Jennings version.

# 7 – Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down

“ Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down ” is one of the greatest Kris Kristofferson songs ever written. Kris Kristofferson  composed the song in 1969. It was originally a hit for singer Ray Stevens. However, it was the memorable Johnny Cash version that blew everyone away with how great the song was. The Johnny Cash version hit number one on the Billboard Country music charts in 1970. “ Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down ” was also named Song Of The Year by the County Music Association in 1970.

# 6 –  Lover Please  (with Rita Coolidge)

This great duet with Rita Coolidge appeared on the album Full Moon . This is one of the rare songs on this list recorded by Kris Kristofferson that was not written by Kris Kristofferson. However this recording he released with his wife Rita Coolidge was so stirring that we had to include it on this list. The music industry also agreed in how brilliant Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge’s version was. They awarded the recording a Grammy Award in 1975.  The song was released on the album Breakaway .

# 5 – Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)

At the half way point on our top 10 Kris Kristofferson songs list we turn to Kris Kristofferson’s first single to chart that he released on his own. This is a beautiful song.  It was a top 30 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It did even better on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts peaking all the way up to number four in 1971. The song was released on the album The Silver Tongued Devil and I.  

# 4 – Why Me

While Kris Kristofferson had many number one songs, they were always performed by other artists. Kris Kristofferson’s biggest hit single that he released himself was his great song “Why Me.” The song was released on his 1973 album entitled Jesus Was a Capricorn . The song was released as the third single from the album. It hit number one on the Billboard County music charts and broke the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

# 3 – For The Good Times

The next three songs on this Kris Kristofferson Songs list were all released on Kris Kristofferson’s 1970 debut album entitled Kristofferson . However, some of them had already been recorded by other musical artists who had huge hit singles with them. Kris Kristofferson’s legendary song “For The Good Times,” was first recorded by Ray Price in 1968. Raye Price benefited greatly from recording Kris Kristofferson’s “For The Good Times,”   as Price wound up with a number one country record with “For The Good Times,” on the Billboard Country music charts in 1968. Al Green would also have a big hit with the song in 1970. So many others would record the song including Frank Sinatra , Elvis Presley , Jerry Lee Lewis , Johnny Cash.

# 2 – Help Me Make It Through The Night

As we wind down our top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs list we turn to the classic Kris Kristofferson song “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” The song was released on Kris Kristofferson’s album entitled Kristofferson in 1970.  However, it would be country singer Sammi Smith who would have a massive hit single with the song. Sammi Smith released the song “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” as a single in 1970. Her version went straight to number one on the Billboard Country music charts. It also became a top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100. It would become the singer’s signature song. The song has been recorded by hundreds of artists from Elvis Presley to Glen Campbell to Gladys Knight & the Pips to many more. The song “Help Me Make It Through The Night,”  won a Grammy Award for Song Of The Year in 1971.

# 1 – Me And Bobby McGee

We close out our Top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs with one of the most famous songs Kris Kristofferson ever composed. The song “ Me and Bobby McGee ” was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster. The song has been covered by many artists over the years, However, it was widely covered early on when it was first released. The first cover version of the song was recorded by a country artist named Roger Miller. The country artist had a top 20 hit with the song on the Billboard County Charts in 1969.  However the world would discover the song due to the great Janis Joplin version recorded in 1971.

Janis Joplin recorded the song “ Me and Bobby McGee ” to be included on her album Pearl. Sadly, Janis Joplin died just a few days after she recorded the song. Janis Joplin never got to see how big the song would become. Janis Joplin’s version hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It would become the singer’s only number one hit record.

“ Me and Bobby McGee ” was also recorded by Gordon Lightfoot who had a top 20 hit with the song in Canada in 1970. Kenny Rogers and his band The First Edition released a version of “ Me and Bobby McGee ” in 1969. Jerry Lee Lewis had a top 40 hit with it on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. While the list of artists who have recorded the song exceeds the limits of space in this article, the ones we would also like to mention include great versions by The Grateful Dead , Joan Baez , Melissa Etheridge , Loretta Lynn , Johnny Cash , The Highwayman, and of course the wonderful version released by the song’s composer Kris Kristofferson.

Top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs  article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021

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About the author.

Brian Kachejian

Brian Kachejian was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. He is the founder and Editor in Chief of ClassicRockHistory.com. He has spent thirty years in the music business often working with many of the people who have appeared on this site. Brian Kachejian also holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Stony Brook University along with New York State Public School Education Certifications in Music and Social Studies. Brian Kachejian is also an active member of the New York Press.

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