About
Kristofferson's personal life and professional career were both at low points in the late '70s and early '80s. His ninth album, Shake Hands with the Devil, was released in September 1979 and did not sell well enough to reach the charts, though the single "Prove It to You One More Time Again" was a country singles chart entry. His next film, Freedom Road, was not given a theatrical release in the U.S., instead being broadcast on television in October. In December he and Coolidge divorced. At the same time, however, his song catalog continued to prosper. Lena Martell's cover of "One Day at a Time" hit number one in the U.K. in October, and in the U.S., Cristy Lane revived the song, taking it to number one in the country charts in June 1980. Willie Nelson Sings Kris Kristofferson was released in October 1979 and made the country Top Five, as did Nelson's single release of "Help Me Make It Through the Night." Kristofferson toured with Nelson during the winter of 1979 and 1980. During this period, he was also working on what should have been his greatest cinematic triumph yet, though it turned into a debacle. This was Heaven's Gate, director Michael Cimino's follow-up to his Academy Award-winning film The Deer Hunter. The lengthy, expensive film debuted to negative reviews in November 1980 and was such a financial catastrophe that it bankrupted the movie studio that made it. Kristofferson had already been contracted to make another film, Rollover, released in 1981, but his association with Heaven's Gate may have scared off casting directors, since he didn't appear in another film until 1984. Meanwhile, he released his tenth album, To the Bone, in January 1981, and it became his second LP to miss the pop charts, although it made the country charts briefly, as did the single "Nobody Loves Anybody Anymore." But the old songs continued to sell; in July, Tompall & the Glaser Brothers just missed topping the country charts with their revival of "Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)."
From 🇺🇸 United States
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