Rufus Wainwright
The calibre of the stock which birthed Rufus is well known. Born in 1973 to folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle (thus giving him the full name of Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright, dontcha know), he became brother to the equally tuneful Martha and Lucy, and unsurprisingly took to music at a young age, studying the piano at age six and touring with his mother and sister by the time he was 13.
It was an eventful but not entirely happy adolescence for young Rufus. He came out as gay whilst still a teenager, and has suggested his parents found it difficult to come to terms with his homosexuality. He was also sexually assaulted at the age of 14 in London’s Hyde Park, and remained celibate for five years afterwards. The period was incredibly formative for the budding artist’s work, with themes of homosexuality explored with fascinating insight in many of Rufus’ finest songs (he’s furthermore performed on gay rights tours, such as True Colours, alongside the likes of The Gossip and Cyndi Lauper.) Also during the period, Wainwright would become interested in and heavily influenced by opera, especially the work of Edith Piaf, Al Jolson and Judy Garland.
After becoming a well known name on the club circuit of Montreal, some of Rufus’ demos were picked up buy Dreamworks Records executive Lenny Warkoner, who signed Rufus to the label on the back of the strength of the Pierre Marchand-produced tapes. He was the first artist to join a roster that would later feature the likes of Eels, Randy Newman and Henry Rollins, before folding in 2005 (prompting a move to Universal for R.W.). After relocating to New York, he penned his first album, a self titled release that came out in 1998. Rufus was 25.
Despite critical acclaim and his public profile rocketing after an appearance in a Gap Christmas commercial, Rufus took some time off during 1999, spending six months living in the Chelsea Hotel in New York. It took three years for a follow up to Rufus Wainwright to be released, with his sophomore LP Poses - largely written during his stay at the Chelsea - not reaching record stores until 2001.
Further critical acclaim for this fine album followed, but alas, so did another downturn in Rufus’ fortunes. After spending much of the early 2000s battling addiction to Crystal Meth (often hallucinating about his father and at one point even temporarily losing his vision), on the advice of close pal Elton John, he underwent a rehabilitation programme at the Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota, and emerged to author two of the finest records of his career.
The Want… saga began in 2003 when Rufus released the Want One LP, followed by its companion album Want Two a year later. The remarkable pair of records, deftly showcasing Rufus’ diverse talents as a songwriter, arranger and performer, cemented his position as one of the most important singer songwriters of this decade.
His first self produced album, this year’s Release The Stars, was his most successful effort in terms of chart placing, reaching number 2 in the U.K. (recently going gold) and 23 in the ‘States, his home nation taking to the record’s political edge far more welcomingly than with the ‘cult’ status they’d awarded his previous records. Despite him originally intending it to be a stripped down affair for which he’d relocate to Berlin, he’d soon strapped on some Lederhosen (literally) and covered the thing in brilliant, luscious string arrangements.
Returning to his operatic roots, Rufus performed two shows at the Carnegie Hall in June of 2006 consisting entirely of the live album recorded in the same venue by Judy Garland in 1961, later taking the show to the London Palladium, Hollywood Bowl and Paris Olympia. A film of the event, Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy! is released on DVD this week (and if you’re interested, you should probably check out our competition…).
Yet that rapturously received gig wasn’t to be Rufus’ last dabbling with all things opera, as our man is reportedly spending his time these days writing the first of his own operas. Entitled Prima Donna, it will apparently focus on the day in the life of an opera singer, and be performed at least partially in French.
RUFUSWAINWRIGHT.COM: Official site number one – Rufus in Lederhosen (ooh err), a great up to date news service, videos, ringtones and a big ‘ol merchandise stall.
RUFUSWAINWRIGHT.NET: Official site number two – yeah, we’re a bit confused too, but this seems to be more of a UK counterpart to the above dot com presence. And, er, has been defunct since May…
MYSPACE.COM/RUFUSWAINWRIGHT: Three Release The Stars tracks, a big ol’ biog, more pictures of Rufus in Lederhosen and the revelation that, according to his profile, his only influence is “Papa Verdi”. From the horse’s mouth, that is.
GOING TO A TOWN VIDEO + THE MAKING OF…: Watch the video to one of Rufus’ most politically charged numbers, then have a look at precisely how it was made, thereby completely spoiling the art of the thing.
GOING TO A TOWN: “It could be a soundtrack to the Great Depression years, as much to the contemporary place of the US in the world, as seen by a man whose values it so clearly does not reflect...”, thought Tom Hocknell of the first single from Release The Stars.
RULES AND REGULATIONS: “Lyrically, it finds Wainwright in a surprisingly modest frame of mind, even if his tongue is still firmly in his cheek; “I will never be as cute as you/ According to the board of human relations…”” – Attribute these words to one Michael Cragg.
WANT ONE: “If it isn’t his angelic warble – a Don McLean meets Thom Yorke, harmonic wail – providing the highlight, then it’s the lavishly expansive choir-sections and orchestral-exertions rendering the project’s soul – all while produced and slick, yet never compromising the bite…” - Toby L witnesses Rufus begin to truly blossom.
RELEASE THE STARS: “He’s forced one of the most subversive pop albums ever recorded into the upper reaches of the charts…”, observed Tim Dellow.