LEGENDARY American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson is playing live in the UK for the first time in three years. See him in Manchester on July 31.

Of the three dates, there is only one outside the capital and that is at the Bridgewater Hall.

Kristofferson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1985, the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2006 and just last year he was awarded the BMI Icon Award at the BMI Country Awards.

Not content with concentrating on music, Kris became an accomplished actor starring in Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid, Convoy, Alice Don’t Live Here Anymore and A Star Is Born, for which he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

His body of work led to the Los Angeles Times naming him “One of the most revered songwriters of the last half century”.

His most recent releases include the critically acclaimed Closer To The Bone and Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends, a 16-track collection of demos recorded between 1968 and 1972 and has been produced with his blessing.

His current live show features his new work from Closer To The Bone as well as taking the audience back to those early days when he performed with just his guitar playing his honest, intimate arrangements, and is a rare opportunity to see him live on stage.

* Kris Kristofferson plays the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on Saturday, July 31. Tickets cost £25-£30 and are available from seetickets.com, the 24-hour ticket hotline on 08700 603777 and the box office.