RIP: Kris Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024)
I usually write these blog posts many days or even a week before I publish them. As such, I often miss the breaking news of the day, when it's relevant to music or, in this case, the passing of a legend in the music industry.
And Kris Kristofferson was certainly that, a legend.
Where would you even start, when trying to compose a tribute to this cat? His towering achievements as a songwriter, or a Country Music artist? His involvement with other legends in the supergroup The Highwaymen? What about his lengthy resume as an actor? Do you mention that he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford? Do you talk about all his Grammy awards? Or awards for his acting?
It's all too much, man. Talk about a life well lived.
I'm using my humble platform to just mention one simple act, something that took only moments, but speaks volumes about this man's heart, compassion, and resolute commitment to doing what is right.
On 3 October 1992, Sinéad O'Connor appeared on the American television program Saturday Night Live (SNL) where, after performing an a-cappella rendition of Bob Marley's 1976 song "War", she tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II as a protest against the Catholic Church.
She was immediately vilified for it. Around the world.
Here's more information about the whole incident here:
Two weeks after her SNL appearance, O'Connor was to perform at the 30th-anniversary tribute concert for Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden in New York City. She was met with a deafening roar of both cheers and boos.
Kris later said in an interview, "...A stage manager came up to me because I was one of the MCs and said, 'Get her off the stage.' I was so pissed off... I wasn't about to tell her to get off the stage so I walked out and said to her, 'Don't let the bastards get you down", and she replied, 'I'm not down.' She's such a good example of good intentions that just get you into trouble. She's talking about human rights, and she's not a bad guy; the bad guys are the guys who are against human rights."
If more people showed even a fraction of that kind of courage that these two artists showed us, how much better would this world be?
