Rufus Wainwright

t to be confused with director Rupert Wainwright.

Rufus Wainwright

Portrait of Wainwright by Oliver Mark, Berlin 2010
Born Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright
July 22, 1973 (age 51)
Rhinebeck, New York, U.S.
Spouse Jörn Weisbrodt ​(m. 2012)​
Children 1
Parent(s) Loudon Wainwright III
Kate McGarrigle
Relatives Martha Wainwright (sister)
Lucy Wainwright Roche (half-sister)
Musical career
Genres
Baroque popart poppop rocksoft rockindie popindie rockopera
Instruments
Vocalskeyboardsguitar
Years active 1988–present
Labels
GeffenDreamWorks
Website rufuswainwright.com
Signature

Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set Shakespeare's sonnets to music for a theatre piece by Robert Wilson.

Wainwright's self-titled debut album was released through DreamWorks Records in May 1998. His second album, Poses, was released in June 2001. Wainwright's third and fourth studio albums, Want One (2003) and Want Two (2004), were repackaged as the double album Want in 2005. In 2007, Wainwright released his fifth studio album, Release the Stars, and his first live album, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall.

His second live album, Milwaukee at Last!!!, was released in 2009, followed by the studio albums All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010) and Out of the Game (2012). The double album Prima Donna (2015) was a recording of his opera of the same name. His ninth studio album, Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets (2016), featured nine adaptions of Shakespeare's sonnets. Rufus' 10th studio album, Unfollow the Rules, was released on July 20, 2020. His 11th, Folkocracy, was released on June 2, 2023.

Wainwright is the son of musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and the older brother of singer Martha Wainwright.