Kris Kristofferson knew he wanted to be a songwriter, and he did whatever it took to get where he wanted to be. He notoriously started out as a janitor at a record label just to break into country music. Not only did his path lead him to incredible success professionally, but it also led him to his longtime love, Lisa Meyers.
Let's take a look back at the loves of Kris Kristofferson's life, from Janis Joplin to his wife of nearly 40 years, Lisa Meyers.
Fran Beer
After graduating from Oxford University, Kristofferson married his longtime girlfriend, Fran Beer, in 1960. After serving in the military, he knew that he wanted to work in music so they moved to Nashville in 1965. They had two children together, daughter Tracy and son Kris. Eventually, the couple called it quits. Kristofferson was working odd jobs around Music City trying to find an "in" and it proved too much for the marriage.
Janis Joplin
Kristofferson was able to make some connections that led to his songs getting recorded by some amazing artists like Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Stevens and Roger Miller. His songs started getting major recognition, winning "Song of the Year" at the CMAs and ACM Awards. People knew the name "Kris Kristofferson" and he even dated Janis Joplin before her tragic death in October of 1970.
Rita Coolidge
Photo by Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Kristofferson's second marriage was to Rita Coolidge, who he had met in 1972 after appearing on BBC together. During their seven-year marriage, they welcomed a daughter together, Casey, and performed together on multiple shows. Kristofferson's film career also skyrocketed, just look at his IMDB Page.
Lisa Meyers Kristofferson
Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
After Kristofferson and Coolidge ended their marriage in 1980, he met his third wife Lisa Meyers. The couple married in 1983. Not only was his film career steady, but he expanded his country music presence by starting the supergroup The Highwaymen with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Still married to this day, Lisa and Kristofferson had five children together — Jesse, Jody, Johnny, Blake and Kelly Marie Kristofferson.
While not much is known about Meyers' early life, we know that she is an alumnus of Pepperdine University and currently resides in Hana, Maui with her husband. She was his rock when he was misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He had memory problems for years, but a doctor finally realized he actually was suffering from Lyme Disease. While it took some time to recover, Meyers told Huffington Post that they approached the whole thing with humor.
"We understand Kris's deficits in spatial awareness and short-term memory loss and we laugh about it all the time. We laugh at him and with him and we make the best of it because Lyme is so tragic that if you don't have something to counterbalance the sadness of that, it'll take you down. The more we can get Kris to laugh, the healthier he is. Being on the road, the laughter, the music. It's great medicine. And I understand that when you have Lyme disease, your quality of life will vary with each different person. You have to just do the best you can."
READ MORE: Meet Kris Kristofferson's 8 Children
