Of all the tributes to music legend Kris Kristofferson in the past week, the one many will remember most was from the daughter of another legend Johnny Cash.
Rosanne Cash is herself a singer-songwriter of distinction and indeed she would be one of the last stars to perform in public with Kristofferson – at Willie Nelson’s 90th-birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl in April 2023.
She had known Kristofferson from her childhood when he first arrived in Nashville and was befriended by her dad. Her first tribute after his death on September 28 was posted on Instagram and in the past week she gave another moving personal farewell in a article for Rolling Stone.
“Kris was my firewall of love and personal history. He was one of the few people left on the planet who knew me as a kid, and one of the few people I knew who loved me without me having to earn it,” she wrote.
“I can’t let myself believe he is gone. The firewall crumbles and so does my own history, the one that was tied to him as hero and family, the one where I was a young songwriter and revered his every word, the one where I learned that devotion to craft was the highest form of prayer, the one where he was my dad’s best friend, the one where being a seeker of truth and beauty was a vocation of the highest calling.”
And, yes, she confirmed in Rolling Stone the now somewhat-legendary story that Kristofferson – a former military pilot – flew a helicopter to Johnny’s home to woo him with his musical talent.
“That story about him landing a helicopter in my dad’s yard to deliver a demo tape of his songs? True. He adored my dad, and deferred to him in every instance. He thought Dad could do no wrong, even when he did wrong. He forgave his bad behavior, instantly.
‘He’s a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he’s stoned.’
Weren’t we all.”
But perhaps her most engaging memory of Kris was one of her last, when last year - at the age of 87 - he joined her onstage at the Nelson birthday concert.
Rosanne reminisced in Rolling Stone. “His last solo performance: Willie’s 90th-birthday bash, a two-night concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It brings me to my knees that he sang with me.
I planned to sing ‘Loving Her Was Easier’ and it was unclear whether Kris would be able to join me, but if he was, we wanted him to walk out right after I sang the first verse and surprise the audience.
She detailed how she had discussed the arrangement with Kristofferson’s wife Lisa:
“Right before I went out, Lisa and Kris were standing in the wings, and Lisa said to me, ‘Once he hears the song start, I don’t know if I can stop him from walking out before it’s time for his verse.’ He can come out whenever he wants. We’ll figure it out, I said.”
She added: “It’s all there on film. At the end of the song, he stood beaming his own light back into the spotlight and basked in the applause. I was overcome with the feeling that he was home. This was a home, this was sustenance and protection, on the floorboards, under the lights and with the full blast of love from several thousand people. Maybe they knew. I sort of knew. I wept when I got off stage.”
Johnny Cash had collaborated musically with Kristofferson over the years, especially as a member of the supergroup the Highwaymen. But Rosanne too had shared the stage with Kris on many occasions. And in Rolling Stone, she recounted one in particular:
“We did a lot of shows together over the years and once, at a show in Basel, Switzerland, I gently pointed out to him at sound check that his guitar was out of tune. He looked a little alarmed, but didn’t say anything. Before we went onstage that night, he turned to me and said ‘I’m nervous because you’re sensitive to tuning.’ That was 2009, and I’m still laughing about it.”
Her tribute in Rolling Stone was accompanied by a most-endearing photo of her and Kris (top-of-page) which she posted on Instagram to mark his last birthday. It has scored more than 30,000 likes.
Kris Kristofferson died at his home in Maui on September 28. He was 88.
Paul Cutler
Editor Crossroads - Americana Music Appreciation
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