Barbra Streisand Recalls First Time Seeing 'A Star Is Born' Costar Kris Kristofferson Perform Following His Death at Age 88: 'So Special'
Barbra Streisand is remembering her longtime friend and costar Kris Kristofferson.
On Sunday, September 29, the Funny Girl actress took to Instagram with a heartfelt tribute for Kristofferson — just one day after he devastatingly died at age 88.
"The first time I saw Kris performing at the Troubadour club in L.A. I knew he was something special," Streisand's message began alongside both an older and more recent photo of the two. "Barefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I was developing, which eventually became A Star Is Born."
"In the movie, Kris and I sang the song I’d written for the film’s main love theme, 'Evergreen,'" she continued in reference to their hit 1976 film. "For my latest concert in 2019 at London’s Hyde Park, I asked Kris to join me on-stage to sing our other A Star Is Born duet, 'Lost Inside Of You.'"
Streisand noted: "He was as charming as ever, and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy seeing him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved."
"My thoughts go to Kris’ wife, Lisa, who I know supported him in every way possible," the "Woman in Love" singer concluded of Kristofferson's wife, Lisa Meyers, whom he tied the knot with in 1983.
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Kristofferson's family confirmed news of his death in a statement shared on Sunday, as OK! previously reported.
"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," his loved ones revealed.
The "Me and Bobby McGee" singer met Meyers at a gym in 1982, when Kristofferson asked to borrow a piece of fitness equipment from the then-young law student — and the rest was history.
Meyers and Kristofferson tied the knot a year later during an intimate ceremony at the Pepperdine University chapel.
The lovebirds went on to welcome five children together: Jesse, 40, Jody, 39, Johnny, 36, Kelly, 34, and Blake, 30.
Kristofferson also was a dad to Tracy, 62, and Kris Kristofferson Jr., 56, whom he shared with ex-wife Fran Beer, as well as his and ex-wife Rita Coolidge's daughter, Casey, 50.
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Kristofferson struggled with a number of health woes throughout the later portion of his life.
In 2013, he was misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Doctors later determined it was actually Lyme disease and re-diagnosed the "Why Me" crooner three years later.