Handsome and quirky Rufus Wainwright has made a huge impact in the music world. In 1998, following the release of his first album, the famous singer/songwriter was named Best New Artist by Rolling Stone. He has produced six albums and is the recipient of two Juno Awards and five GLAAD Media Awards.
Rufus Wainwright
Born July 22, 1973
Handsome and quirky Rufus Wainwright has made a huge impact in the music world. In 1998, following the release of his first album, the famous singer/songwriter was named Best New Artist by Rolling Stone. He has produced six albums and is the recipient of two Juno Awards and five GLAAD Media Awards.
Wainwright composes music for theater, dance and opera and has contributed to numerous film soundtracks, including “Moulin Rouge” and “Brokeback Mountain.” Additionally, he has acted in “The Aviator” and “Heights,” among other films.
As a collaborator, Wainwright has worked on albums with music greats Rosanne Cash and Elton John. John hailed him as “the greatest songwriter on the planet.”
Wainwright’s musical talent was deeply influenced by his folksinger parents, Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III. He was born in Rhinebeck, New York, and holds dual United States and Canadian citizenship. After his parents divorced, Wainwright spent most of his youth with his mother in Montreal.
At age 14, Wainwright broke into burst into the entertainment world with a song he wrote and sang in the film “Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller,” which earned him a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year. That same year, he was sexually assaulted by a man he met at a bar. Deeply disturbed by the attack, he remained celibate for seven years. Despite his success, Wainwright struggled with crystal meth addiction, a habit he eventually recovered from in 2002.
Wainwright’s first opera, “Prima Donna,” premiered in 2009 at the Manchester International Festival and was the subject of a documentary film that premiered on Bravo! in 2010.
Wainwright assures his fans that he won’t be retiring any time soon. “I am a self-sustaining, vibrant, long-term artist and I’m not going away!” he has said.
