The “weeping“ 1973 number one that defined Kris Kristofferson: “A profound religious experience”When news of Kris Kristofferson’s death was announced in September 2024, it shook the very foundations of music. Kristofferson and some of his contemporaries, like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, were responsible for shaping what we now consider the overriding blueprint for country music. However, Kristofferson’s hit that would go on to define his career comes in the form of the 1973 track, ‘Why Me’. Kristofferson was going through a low point in his life, but a low point that remained profound and undefinable. “Connie [Smith] took me over to church the next day to Jimmie Snow’s church,” Kristofferson recalled, “And I had a profound religious experience during the session, something that never had happened to me before.