Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwrightis an American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer. He has recorded seven albums of original music and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written a classical opera and set Shakespeare sonnets to music for a theater piece by Robert Wilson...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionOpera Singer
Date of Birth22 July 1973
CityRhinebeck, NY
CountryCanada
mom gay gun
Looking back, one of the things I love most about my mom was that she never, ever relented. She stuck to her guns right up until the end. She wasn't abusive, but she was never that thrilled that I was gay.
kabbalah hitting fairy-tale
I'm not born again, I'm not Kabbalah, God forbid, but I did have an experience hitting 30 that I needed to lean on something that assured me that everything is going to be okay. I had to regain a lot of my belief in fairy tales, in happy endings.
demise way plot
I've paid the price; I definitely have a reputation that precedes me, and there is a camp that plots my demise. But then again... it's funner that way.
artist young hedonistic
The more hedonistic you were, the better...I very much subscribed to that as a young artist.
art media snakes
All these poses of classical torture ruined my mind like a snake in the orchard. I did go from wanting to be someone, now I'm drunk and wearing flip-flops on Fifth Avenue.
jumping boots forests
I was in the forest jumping around daffodils while everyone was high on heroin.
california life-is
Life is the longest death in California,
thinking artist self
I don't know if it will be my big comeback, but I think it is a statement - that I am a self-sustaining, vibrant, long-term artist, and I'm not going away! And if you don't give me credit, then the musical gods will!
piano guitar lovers
I don’t really have a relationship with the guitar; it’s like my slutty lover, whereas I’m married to the piano
coffee snacks black
I will take my coffee black / never snack / hang with the wolves who are sheepish.
artist degrees answers
You know the question: 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall?' Answer: 'Practise?' Well, in my case, I got there by not practising. I didn't finish my music degree. And when I got into the pop world, I decided not to conform because I figured that the point of being an artist was that you shouldn't be like anyone else.
song writing breathing
When it comes to sitting down and composing, there is no hesitation, no concern, no critics breathing fire down my neck. For me, writing a song is the purest part of all. No one can mess with that.
real thinking piano
When I wrote the opera, I made a deal with myself that for at least an hour a day I would work on it, even if it meant just sitting on my piano bench, staring into space and thinking about it. It's about keeping it regular, like your bowel movements - let's get real: it's your bodily artistic movements! It comes from the same place.
taken thinking years
There's prejudice everywhere. I don't think the music industry is as bad as the movie industry. But I have taken a few hits over the years for my sexuality, and for being honest about my life. In the end, it's the music that rules the roost.