Rufus Wainwright

The extrovert son of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright – born on July 22, 1973 in Rhineback, New York - grew up mainly in Canada after the divorce of his parents. He studied piano in Montreal and was appearing on stage with his mother and aunt by the time he was 13. A year later, one of his own songs – “I'm-a-Runnin’” — was featured in the movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler. His self-titled debut album in 1998 was widely acclaimed, although follow-up Poses (2001) was hindered by Rufus Wainwright's wild lifestyle and addiction to crystal meth. Painful recovery led to some of his best work, including the albums Want One, Want Two and Release the Stars. In 2006, he performed an ambitious concert at New York's Carnegie Hall, recreating Judy Garland's famous live album recorded there 45 years earlier and took another leap of faith in 2009 when his opera Prima Donna was performed at Manchester International Festival in England. He also continued to sing family shows with his sister Martha Wainwright and mother Kate McGarrigle — who made her last performance with him at London's Royal Albert Hall shortly before her death in 2010. Soon after his mother's death, he released his sixth album All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, another ambitious effort that included adaptations of three William Shakespeare sonnets. He continued to explore different musical avenues with his albums Out of the Game (2012), Prima Donna (2015), and a return to Shakespeare sonnets with Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets (2016). In 2020, Wainwright achieved critical acclaim for his album Unfollow the Rules. Live album Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios was released in 2022 with the guest-packed Folkocracy following in 2023. The album features appearances from Anohni, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, John Legend, and many more. Invited in September 2023 to the BBC Proms to present his diptych Want One/Want Two in an orchestral version with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Sarah Hicks, the composer unveils in 2025 his new classical work, Dream Requiem, a choral opera recorded with the actress Meryl Streep, the soprano Anna Prohaska, the Choir, the Maîtrise and the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Mikko Franck.