Kris Kristofferson is a renowned member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, having helped to revive the city's artistic and creative community throughout the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Kristofferson can be viewed as a pioneer and a rebel in country music especially for his iconic classic songs like "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Me and Bobby McGee" as well as the popular tune "For the Good Times." Kristofferson is a colorful personality whose concerts are filled with energy, especially with his backup band called the Borderlands.

Kristofferson was born on June 22, 1936 in Brownsville, Texas, and he began his own music career in the mid-1960s. He was a Rhodes scholar and a helicopter pilot with sights set on of taking on a position as a English Lit professor at West Point, but Kristofferson veered off of this career path. After a chance meeting with country music great Johnny Cash, he made the decision to move to Nashville. Kristofferson did everything he could to make it big in the city of music, even if it meant sweeping floors in recording studios. In 1969, he was offered the big break he was waiting for by none other than Cash himself. The country music phenomenon introduced Kristofferson at the Newport Folk Festival in 1969 and also featured him on his network television show.

Kristofferson really made an impact on the music industry when several prominent artists recorded some of his songs like "Best of all Possible Worlds" and "From the Bottle to the Bottom." It was becoming clear he was achieving great success as a songwriter, but he had yet to really strike a chord with fans as a performer. With the release of what would be his second album, The Silver Tongued Devil and I, he put his name on the map as not only a skilled writer but a singer as well with hits like "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)," becoming hot tracks on the charts. The 1970s scored more hits for Kristofferson, and he has continued his fame on into the 2000s.