Kristofferson to Receive BMI Icon Award

Kris Kristofferson will be honored with the BMI Icon Award at the 57th annual BMI Country Awards on November 10. The Icon Award is given to "songwriters and artists who have had a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."

Per the BMI press release:

As often as the monikers are interchanged, "poet" and "songwriter" are not necessarily synonymous—unless, of course, one is referring to Kris Kristofferson. With the penetration of a poet and the humbling grace of a troubadour, Kristofferson built a legendary career most recognized for its versatility, authenticity, and sheer brilliance. He has received 48 BMI Country and Pop Awards for his compositions including Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down, Why Me, Me and Bobby McGee, Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again), which was also the BMI Country Song of the Year in 1972, Help Me Make It Through the Night, which garnered seven BMI Country and four BMI Pop Awards, and For the Good Times, which won a BMI Country Award each consecutive year between 1971 and 1979 as well as five BMI Pop Awards between 1970 and 1974. Three Grammys line his shelves. He is a three-time BMI Country Songwriter of the Year, and eight of his compositions have generated substantially more than one million performances. While he wrote most of his masterpieces alone, his co-writers include giants Shel Silverstein, Marijohn Wilkin, and Fred Foster. He has starred in numerous films, including Lone Star, the Blade trilogy, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, A Star Is Born, for which he garnered the Golden Globe trophy for Best Motion Picture Actor, and Songwriter, for which he received an Oscar nomination for Original Song Score. Along with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash, Kristofferson also formed the Highwaymen. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame, which also honored him with the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award in 2006. Recording now for New West Records, he will release a new album in September of this year. A Rhodes Scholar capable of choosing virtually any path, Kristofferson decided to write songs, and for that, purveyors and lovers of American music are eternally grateful.

Past winners of the award include Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Bill Anderson, Charlie Daniels and Loretta Lynn.