Rufus Wainwright is a Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter.
Biography[]
Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York. His parents Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright both folk singers, as would be his sister Martha Wainwright.
Wainwright was noticed in 1989 when he wrote and sang I'm A-Runnin' in the children's movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, for which he was nominated for a Genie Award and a Juno Award.
Wainwright quickly developed an interest in opera and '50s music, such as that of Judy Garland, and this - combined with his early awareness of his homosexuality - developed his musical stylings. He began working the club circuit in Montreal before eventually signing with Dreamworks.
He has released five studio albums: Rufus Wainwright (1998), Poses (2001, Want One (2003) and Want Two (2004) - written after a strong fight with drugs - and Release the Stars' (2007).
Wainwright is known mostly for his voice, but also plays the piano and the guitar. He is well known for using a variety of instruments and styles in his music, inspired by opera and classical stylings.
In 2007, he performed a song-for-song remake of Judy Garland's famous concert at Carnegie Hall. The sellout show was later repeated in London, with guest appearances by Martha Wainwright, Kate McGarrigle and Garland's daughter Lorna Luft. It was subsequently released on DVD and CD.
In July 2009, Wainwright's opera Prima Donna will premiere in Manchester.