00:00thank you for watching my channel please subscribe and like now back to the news
00:05chris christopherson the vibrant trailblazing country music hitmaker who wowed audiences in
00:09the 1976 remake of a star is born died on saturday at the age of 88 the star was surrounded by his
00:16family but no cause of death was given variety reported sunday just one month before his death
00:22the golden globe winner put his ranch on northern california's mendocino coast on the market for
00:2617.2 million dollars per the sacramento b he announced his retirement in a 2021 statement
00:32issued by his management revealing that he had slowly stepped back from the spotlight
00:37christopherson was known for his chart-topping 1972 song why me and me and bobby mcgee a hit
00:42recorded by janice joplin shortly before her 1970 death christopherson once said his songs come from
00:48that soul and described his songwriting ability as a gift according to pbs he was just as successful
00:54on the big screen he played vampire hunter abraham whistler in the 1998 horror film blade and the
01:00love interest of ellen burstyn's character in the 1974 drama alice doesn't live here anymore
01:05directed by martin scorsese blade took off as a trilogy series with the second installment
01:10premiering in 2002 and the third in 2004 he reprised his role as whistler in all of the
01:16following movies playing blades mentor wesley snipes christopherson was born on june 22nd
01:221936 in brownsville texas where he found a passion for music at a young age here called
01:28hearing country in norteno music and songs of mexico and southern texas on radio stations there
01:33i think it was the strongest influence in my life christopherson admitted during a 2018 appearance on
01:38new orleans public radio station wwno i spend about 11 years down there my first 11 and the
01:44border music the mexican music it was just heart music and the country music was the same he
01:49continued i always felt that it was the rio grande valley that got the music going in my brain
01:54when christopherson was just 11 years old he wrote his first song i hate your ugly face per pbs
02:00he said it was the closest he felt comfortable to writing a love song at the time in 2009 he
02:06released the ballad he moved around quite a bit as a child since his father was an army air corps
02:11officer per pbs his family eventually made a home in san mateo california a suburb of san francisco
02:17when he was a teen after graduating from high school in 1954 christopherson departed for pomona
02:23college in clermont where he played football when he was just 18 he was published in the atlantic
02:29monthly after he won first prize in a short story contest held by the outlet the two compositions
02:34were titled gone are the days and the rock he focused on writing learning from philosopher
02:39dr frederick son tag who encouraged him to apply for a road scholarship he studied literature at
02:44the university of oxford in england graduating in 1960 and then returned to california he married
02:50his high school sweetheart fran bier that same year according to wide open country they divorced
02:56in 1969 christopherson served in the military beginning his service in 1960 he trained as a
03:02helicopter pilot of fort rucker in alabama per vi news and later served in west germany with
03:078th infantry division but even while in germany he continued to write songs performing in a band
03:12with his fellow soldiers the outlet reported after he returned from germany he was even offered
03:18a spot to teach literature at the prestigious west point but declined after he learned he would
03:22have to write up lesson plans a feat that scared him in 1965 he moved to nashville where he resigned
03:28from the army and vowed to make it in the industry and that he did he worked scrappy night shifts as
03:33a janitor at columbia studios and gave the country music stars demo tapes of his songs
03:38per his biography on nashville's walk of fame website the star hit a turning point in his
03:43career in 1969 when johnny cash recorded christopherson's song sunday morning coming
03:48down which won the 1970 country music association's song of the year trophy
03:53his career continued to take off as he wrote for fellow legends like cash ray price and waylon
03:58jennings scoring a grammy award in 1972 for his work on help me make it through the night which
04:02was recorded by sammy smith before her death in 1970 he briefly dated janice joplin as they were
04:09introduced to their mutual friend and folk singer bobby neworth according to far out magazine they
04:14played a show together in new york and then traveled to her home in california which ended
04:18up being a three-week long trip in 1976 he hit a stride in his acting career starring as john
04:24norman howard a failing rock star in the third iteration of the star is born christopherson
04:29played opposite barbara streisand who was his love interest esther hoffman their performance
04:34became the third highest grossing film of 1976 according to vox while other reviews of the film
04:40were mixed and it was generally disliked by critics the piece won a golden globe for best
04:44motion picture in 1977 earning christopherson his first award in film in 1985 he formed country
04:51supergroup highwayman with cash jennings and willie nelson which proved to be legendary
04:56they released three studio albums highwayman 1985 highwayman 2 1990 and the road goes on forever
05:031995 per the willie nelson and friends museum even after the musical group disbanded they
05:09remained close friends with nelson and christopherson still playing music together
05:13every so often after the deaths of jennings in 2002 and cash in 2003 over the course of
05:19his career christopherson received many awards and accolades
05:26you
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