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Country music singer, songwriter, and actor Kris Kristofferson passed away at the age of 88 on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at his home in Maui, Hawaii. The exact cause of his demise is still undisclosed. The 88-year-old singer was said to have passed peacefully in the presence of his family and loved ones.
Kris' survivors include his wife, Lisa, his eight children, and seven grandchildren. The singer had three children from his previous marriages with Frances Beer and Rita Coolidge, apart from five children with Lisa. In an Instagram post, his family announced the news of his death and shared a statement with Variety.
In the statement, they noted that Kris Kristofferson had passed away peacefully before adding that they were all "blessed for their time with him." The family also thanked his fans for "loving him all these many years."
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“Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all,” his family said.
Kristofferson was reportedly involved in an alleged political altercation with fellow country musician, the late Toby Keith in 2003. The two reportedly got into an argument at Willie Nelson’s 70th birthday concert.
Actor, author, and filmmaker Ethan Hawke first made the alleged incident public while penning a tribute story for Kris for Rolling Stone in 2009. However, Toby Keith denied it, while Kristofferson claimed he didn’t remember it.
Exploring the alleged altercation between Kris Kristofferson and Toby Keith
Ethan Hawke wrote an article for Rolling Stone in April 2009, as a tribute to Kris Kristofferson. The article was titled The Last Outlaw: Kris Kristofferson's American Journey, and recounted a six-year-old alleged incident involving Kris and Toby. The supposed altercation between the two singers took place at Willie Nelson’s 70th birthday concert.
Hawke didn't mention Keith by his name in the article. However, he wrote that a star who "had a monster radio hit about bombing America's enemies back into the Stone Age" allegedly confronted Kris.
At the time of writing the article, Toby Keith was incredibly popular for his 2002 song Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American) from Unleashed. The song was his response to the 9/11 terror attacks.
According to Hawke, this unnamed musician, who was thought to be Toby Keith, went up to Kris Kristofferson, who was backstage. The musician reportedly told him, “None of that lefty sh*t out there tonight, Kris.”
In response, the For the Good Times lyricist reportedly said, “What the f*ck did you just say to me?” When Toby allegedly added, “You heard me,” and then started walking away, Kris reportedly riled up further and stated, “Don’t turn your back to me, boy.”
Keith seemingly replied that he didn’t want any problems and just wanted Kristofferson to “tone it down.” Meanwhile, the latter, who was a retired Army Ranger and helicopter pilot, reportedly hit back by asking if he had ever worn his "country's uniform."
“You ever worn your country’s uniform? Don’t ‘What?’ me, boy! You heard the question. You just don’t like the answer. Have you ever served your country? The answer is, no, you have not. Have you ever killed another man? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the f*ck up… you don’t know what the h*ll you’re talking about.”
As per Ethan Hawke’s account, Kris Kristofferson also addressed the people around them. He said that Waylon Jennings said that guys like Toby Keith were doing to country music “what pantyhose did to finger f*cking.”
That year, after Ethan Hawke’s article created a lot of stir, Toby Keith spoke about it at the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards. He said that he didn’t know the Before Midnight actor and that his Rolling Stone article was “superficial” and a “fictitious f*cking lie.” He also claimed that Hawke named everyone in the article except him because he “didn’t want to f*cking deal with the aftermath.”
Kris Kristofferson issued a written statement where he mentioned how he was “friends” with both Ethan Hawke and Toby Keith. However, he claimed that he did not remember the events at Willie Nelson’s 70th birthday concert, as reported by The Northman actor in the magazine article.
“What does it matter? That was six years ago. I spoke to Ethan before I put out my statement and thanked him for the beautiful story he wrote for Rolling Stone and I also told him I did not recall the incident at Willie’s birthday party. This is the last statement I will put out about this nonsense,” Kris shared.
Subsequently, the Closer to the Bone singer told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that even though he didn’t recall the incident, his wife Lisa did. He explained how he liked Toby Keith but didn’t “agree with his politics,” adding that there were lots of things in “artistry that transcend politics.” Kri also joked that he was unable to remember what he had for breakfast, let alone what happened six years ago.
While Kris Kristofferson passed away over the last weekend, Toby Keith succumbed to stomach cancer in February 2024 at the age of 62. Meanwhile, Ethan Hawke was recently captured walking the red carpet at the Lucca Film Festival in Tuscany, Italy.
