The American actor and country legend Kris Kristoffersonwho inspired, among others, Bob Dylan and appeared on the big screen next to her Barbra Streisanddied Saturday at the age of 88, his family announced Sunday.

“Kris Kristofferson died peacefully Saturday at his home” in Hawaii, his relatives said via Facebook. “When you see a rainbow, know it’s the one smiling at everyone.”

Nominated for a Golden Globe in 1976, for his supporting role to Barbra Streisand in the film “A Star Is Born”Kris Kristofferson also starred in Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in 1973.

The creator of classic country songs such as Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down (1969) or Me and Bobby McGee (1970), which was to be performed by Janis Joplin, was a leading songwriter, composer and performer of this genre, alongside figures such as Johnny Casho Waylon Jennings and the Willie Nelson, with whom he formed the band The Highwaymen.

A multiple Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004.

Born June 22, 1936 in Brownsville TexasKris Kristofferson initially pursued a career in the military like his father before settling in Nashville, the mecca of country music, and writing Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down for Johnny Cash.

“There was Nashville before Chris and Nashville after Chris. Because it changed everything,” Bob Dylan summed up, according to Kris Kristofferson’s website.

The raspy-voiced performer, who had a lifelong passion for the English poet William Blake, continued to perform frequently until he retired from the stage aged 84 in 2021.