- Kristofferson · 1969
- Joyful Noise (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2012
- Kristofferson · 1900
- Kristofferson · 1970
- The Very Best of the Highwaymen · 1954
- The Very Best of the Highwaymen · 2016
- The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson (Live) · 2017
- The Cedar Creek Sessions · 2016
- Live at Gilley’s - Pasadena, Tx: September 15, 1981 · 2022
- The Cedar Creek Sessions · 2016
- The Austin Sessions · 1999
- The Cedar Creek Sessions · 2016
- Jesus Was a Capricorn · 1970
Essential Albums
- Kris Kristofferson's 1970 debut blew country music wide open with its despairing lyrics and folk-rocky sound, and his second salvo kept the ball rolling on his outlaw attitude. Be it the title track's examination of a slithering playboy, the mournful countrypolitan grace of “Jody and the Kid” or Kristofferson’s husky salute to other outlaw legends on "The Pilgrim, Chapter 33", The Silver Tongued Devil and I is lined with songs that would influence folk, rock and country for decades to come.
- 1970
- 2016
- 2013
- 2009
- 1995
- 1990
Artist Playlists
- Revisit the career of the man behind some of country's biggest anthems.
- His ingeniously poetic ballads changed the course of country music.
Compilations
- 2016
- 1982
Appears On
- Rocket To Stardom
About Kris Kristofferson
Even before he became a leading man in the '70s, Kris Kristofferson had already lived a life worthy of a movie. After rising to the rank of captain, the Brownsville, Texas-born Kristofferson left the army life behind in the mid-'60s to break into Nashville’s song factory, eventually working his way into Johnny Cash’s good graces while serving as a janitor at Columbia Recording Studios. But while Cash would turn the aspiring songwriter’s “Sunday Mornin' Comin’ Down” into a countrypolitan classic, Kristofferson’s crafty blend of down-and-out realism and sly, dark humour would resonate far beyond Music City: Janis Joplin ushered his hitchhiker saga “Me and Bobby McGee” into the rock canon; Gladys Knight & The Pips melted down the folksy ballad “Help Me Make It Through the Night” into smouldering, orchestral soul. And on his own '70s solo releases, Kristofferson’s unvarnished, plain-spoken vocals proved every bit as compelling as his lived-in narratives, whether shining a harsh light on the booze-stenched starving-artist existence with “To Beat the Devil” or exquisitely reminiscing about an old flame on “Jody and the Kid” with a subtle grace worthy of Leonard Cohen. Kristofferson’s unwavering affinity for the raw and the real would earn him entry into the ultimate outlaw-country supergroup, the Highwaymen, where he stood alongside Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson as gatekeepers of old-school authenticity in a genre that was becoming increasingly commercialised.
- HOMETOWN
- Brownsville, TX, United States
- BORN
- 22 June 1936
- GENRE
- Country