Kris Kristofferson, Country Music Icon, 'Blade,' 'A Star is Born' Star, Dead at 88

Legendary actor and country singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, most known for his roles in A Star is Born (1976) and Blade (1998), died at the age of 88 on Saturday.

A representative for Kristofferson confirmed that the star died peacefully at his home in Maui over the weekend. In a statement, Kristofferson’s family said he’s “smiling down at us all.”

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28 at home. We’re all so blessed for our time with him. Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all,” the statement to PEOPLE said.

Kristofferson, a child to first-generation Swedish immigrants, showed an interest in country music at an early age and formulated a band with fellow soldiers after serving in the U.S. military in the early-1960s. Speaking with Clash in 2010, Kristofferson said on the country music scene in Nashville, Tennessee at the time, “I just fell in love with the music community that was going on there. The way the old heroes helped out the new guys. It was a very soulful business at the time; I don’t know if it’s anything like that now. But it was definitely the best move I’ve ever made.”

His music career would lead him to five Grammy wins, including a lifetime achievement award in 2014.

Kristofferson later entered Hollywood to act in movies in the 1970s despite any formal training.

“I’d never even been in no school play, but I read the [Cisco Pike] script, and I could identify with this cat, this dope dealer,” he told Rolling Stone in 1974. “People said, ‘Don’t do it, take acting lessons first!’ But it seemed to me that acting must be just understanding a character and then being just as honest as you can possibly be.”

His big acting break came in 1976 when he starred alongside Barbara Streisand in A Star is Born where he played her self-destructive love interest – a role that would later be reprised by Bradley Cooper in the 2018 Lady Gaga star vehicle.

In the 1990s, Kristofferson became a fan favorite for a new generation of movie lovers with his turn as the over-the-hill mentor Whistler in the Wesley Snipes blockbuster Blade, a role that he would reprise in the following two sequels.

Kristofferson is survived by his wife Lisa, eight children and seven grandchildren.