Photo: David LaChapelle
The current issue of Rolling Stone features an epic Kris Kristofferson profile written by Ethan Hawke. As our managing editor Will Dana explains in his Editor’s Note, Hawke approached RS with the story idea, arguing that as Kristofferson has leathered into grand-old-man authenticity, he has recorded a string of excellent albums — and still managed to steal a film every few years.
So we turned 14 pages over to Hawke, who told us, “[Kristofferson] achieved an incredible level of success in movies and rock & roll when they were both at their finest point. There was a moment when America was changing, and he was the face of it. But he wasn’t just the face. He was also the poet laureate.”
Hawke ran down 20 essential Kristofferson songs for us, from 1970’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” the track that launched his career, to 1986’s “They Killed Him,” a lament for Gandhi, King and Christ that Bob Dylan covered on Knocked Out Loaded. Hear the songs and read Hawke’s commentary here:
• The Essential Kris Kristofferson
In his piece, Hawke tackles Kristofferson’s history — Rhodes scholar, U.S. Army Airborne Ranger, boxer, professional helicopter pilot, songwriter — and explores the singer’s acting in films like the 1974 Martin Scorsese gem Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and 1976’s A Star Is Born — as well as the poorly received Heaven’s Gate. Reflecting on why he never self-destructed, Kris tells Hawke, “I guess I don’t really understand how it happened that I have lived this long. Probably doesn’t have anything to do with me, except that my desire for life is strong enough to force me ot find some kind of discipline. Some people get bowled over by failure, and can’t pick themselves back up again, you know?”
Grab the full story in the issue of RS that’s on newsstands now.