He comes from impressive pedigree. Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is the son of Loudon Wainwright III & Kate McGarrigle, & the brother of Martha Wainwright. Rufus has a musicality & voice of real resonance & emotion with influences of opera & Cole Porter, religious music & Judy Garland, folk & Al Jolson, rock & Edith Piaf. Rufus came out in his teens & he has said in interviews that his parents- “could not handle my being gay. We never talked about it.” I purchased his debut album- Rufus Wainwright in 1998 because he seemed to be identifying as an openly gay artist & I found it to be somewhat overwrought on first listening & I put it away for several years. I enthusiastically returned to Rufus with the release of Poses in 2001, which I find to be a work of true genius. He did not disappoint with the release of Want & Want Two in 2003 & 2004, & he continued to astonish with Release The Stars in 2007. In June 2006, Wainwright sold-out a pair of Carnegie Hall shows in which he recreated the entire Judy Garland concert album that was recorded there in 1961. He later repeated his performance at the London Palladium, the Paris Olympia, & the Hollywood Bowl. Live CD & DVD recordings of the concerts were released. I own the DVD- wittily titled Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!: Live from the London Palladium & I find it mesmerising & brave. My good friend WCK, a huge Judy fan, dislikes it in no uncertain words. In 2008, Garland's daughter Lorna Luft expressed strong approval of Wainwright's recordings of her mother's songs. The album was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. This past week saw the debut of his opera Prima Donna, about a day in the life of a mad opera singer, at the Manchester International Festival. Wainwright created the concept of Blackoutsabbath in early 2008. He asks participants to live "off the grid" as much as possible, on a designated date, by unplugging appliances, walking or cycling, turning out lights & decreasing energy usage in any other ways possible. Elton John calls him “the greatest songwriter on the planet”.He is one of my favorites; I am a big fan of his work & his persona. This is my favorite of his songs- Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk:
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