Dolly Parton is mourning the loss of fellow country crooner Kris Kristofferson, who passed away at age 88 on Saturday, September 28. Touching on his prolific singing and acting career, the 9 to 5 singer wrote via Instagram, “What a great loss, what a great writer, what a great actor, what a great friend.”
“I will always love you,” she concluded, signing the message as Dolly with a butterfly graphic.
Parton and Kristofferson were longtime friends and collaborators who shared many duet performances over the years, including songs like From Here to the Moon and Back and Put It Off Until Tomorrow.
The pair teamed up with Willie Nelson and Brenda Lee in 1982 to release a collaborative compilation album called The Winning Hand. The record later inspired a TV special of the same name, which was hosted by Johnny Cash, who wrote the liner notes for the effort.
Parton interestingly shared a throwback video on Facebook of herself and Kristofferson singing Ping Pong from the aforementioned album together as recently as September 19. “There is nothing like making music with friends!” she captioned the post. “It brings me so much joy to have sung with so many talented artists over the year,” she further added, tagging Kristofferson, who reshared the post on his own FB page. “Thank you for sharing this Dolly Parton,” he wrote.
In 2019, Parton wished Kristofferson a happy birthday via X. She shared a throwback photo of the duo on the microblogging site with the message: “Wishing my pal Kris Kristofferson a very happy birthday.”
Kristofferson, who was also known for his acting roles in films including A Star Is Born, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and the Blade trilogy, passed away peacefully at his home in Maui, Hawaii, surrounded by his family, according to People.
He is survived by his third wife, Lisa Meyers, their five children, as well as his three children from his previous two marriages.
“Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all,” the family said in a statement to the aforementioned publication.
