Rufus Wainwright Tickets

Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York on July 22, 1973. His parents divorced while he was a child.He began to play the piano when he was just six years old. He was touring with his sister Martha, mother Kate, and aunt Anna as the "McGarrigle Sisters and Family." by age 13

His song "I'm A-Runnin'", earned him a nomination for the 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song at the age of 14. He performed this song in the movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, in which a minor character was also played by him.

Rufus Wainwright was also nominated for the 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year .He lived in Montreal with his mother for most of his childhood. He studied both classical and modern piano while briefly attending McGill University. His mastery of French is featured in some of his songs. Wainwright still maintains a residence in Canada.

Wainwright showed great interest in opera throughout his adolescent years. (for instance, lyrics of Giuseppe Verdi are featured in his track Barcelona). The performers such as ?dith Piaf, Al Jolson and Judy Garland were among his favorites.

Rise to Fame
By playing Cafe Sarajevo every week, Wainwright became a fixture on the Montreal club circuit. He then cut a series of demo tapes, which were produced by Pierre Marchand (who also produced "Poses"). DreamWorks executive Lenny Waronker found these tapes and Wainwright was lucky to be signed with the label.

In the spring of 1996, Rufus moved to New York City and began playing at the club Fez to build an audience. He played there for a while. Then he moved to Los Angeles in the fall of '96 to record his first album with producer Jon Brion. He was successful in releasing the self-titled Rufus Wainwright album in the spring of 1998. Much critical acclaim was received by the record. Rolling Stone magazine recognized it as one of the best albums of the year. The magazine also named Wainwright the "Best New Artist" of the year.

In the summer of 1998, Wainwright toured with Sean Lennon and later that year his first headlining tour was begun. He appeared in a Gap commercial singing "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" in December 1998. The promotion proved to be very beneficial for his career. His album sales increased dramatically as a result of this promotion.Rufus started a headlining tour on March 1, 1999 in Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell's, that continued till mid May. Most of his sophomore album were written by him during his six months stay in the Chelsea Hotel in NYC.Wainwright released his second album, Poses, on June 5, 2001. It also brought a comparable amount of critical acclaim as his debut but the record's sales were less than Wainwright's expectations.Wainwright toured with Tori Amos, Sting, Ben Folds, and Guster from 2001 to 2004. The 2001 and 2002 tour were headlined in support of "Poses."

His sister Martha Wainwright is now an emerging artist. Rufus often performs with his sister on backup vocals. Despite a growing cult following and critical acclaim, Wainwright has experienced only marginal commercial success in the United States.

Work in film, broadcasting and on-stage
Wainwright enjoyed his career in films, broadcasting and on stage. Wainwright has appeared in the films The Aviator and Heights in addition to his role in Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller.

He has also recorded tracks especially for films, including Brokeback Mountain, I Am Sam, Moulin Rouge and I'm Your Man. Barry Taylor and Paula Quijano are Rufus's managers and Barbara Charone is his publicist.

In a concert at London's Mermaid Theatre in May 2006, Rufus was one of three special guests (the others being Robbie Williams and Frances Barber) to star with the Pet Shop Boys. In this concert, he covered "Casanova in Hell", a track from the latest Pet Shop Boys album Fundamental.

Here is the list of Rufus's outstanding achievements in the form of Awards and nominations:

Genie Awards
1989 - Nominated, Best Original Song, I'm A-Runnin' Juno Awards
1990 - Nominated, Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year
1999 - Won, Best Alternative Album; Rufus Wainwright
2002 - Nominated, Best Songwriter; "Poses," "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," and "Grey Gardens"
2002 - Won, Best Alternative Album; Poses
2005 - Nominated, Adult Alternative Album of the Year; "Want Two"