The Highwaymen, composed of four of the brightest country stars – Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson – is perhaps the greatest country music supergroup in history.
With such distinct singing voices, the four living legends shared a friendship and a love for music that translated into three albums over a decade, while traveling the world, performing country music to millions of fans.
This includes when The Highwaymen took the stage for one remarkable performance of the iconic ballad tune “Me and Bobby McGee.” We found footage of the American Outlaws: Live at the Nassau Coliseum in 1990, where Cash, Kristofferson, Jennings, and Nelson joined forces to deliver the classic country ballad with nothing but perfection – the audience can’t help but watch in amazement.
Other hits the supergroup performed at that time are “Big River” and “Always on My Mind.”
Story Behind The Country Classic
Written by Kris Kristofferson with the help of Fred Foster, “Me and Bobby McGee” tells the story of a couple of drifters who found love while traveling across the nation before sadly parting ways.
According to Kristofferson, the titular character was named after studio secretary Barbara “Bobbie” McKee. However, the country star misheard her surname.
Anyway, the country classic was originally recorded by Roger Miller in 1969 – whose version reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Since then, the song has been covered countless times by different artists, including Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding. Meanwhile, Gordon Lightfoot brought the country song to the pop chart when his version hit No. 13 on Canada RPM Top singles.
Kristofferson also recorded his own version for his debut album Kristofferson in 1970.
Well, make sure to check out The Highwaymen’s performance of “Me and Bobby McGee” in the video below.
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Johnny Cash, kris kristofferson, The Highwaymen, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson