Rufus Wainwright

'Rufus Wainwright', whose birth name is Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright, was born on July 22, 1973 in Rhinebeck, New York Click to look into! >> Read More... , is an American-Canadian music composer, songwriter, and a singer. His parents' names are Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III. Both of them were folk singers. When Rufus turned three, his parents divorced, and his mother shifted to Montreal with him.

His father is a blood relative of Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland's seventeenth-century Dutch governor. He completed his primary education from Millbrook School, New York and also studied how to play piano from McGill. By the age of thirteen, he could play it very well and began to tour with the McGarrigle Sisters and Family. It was a group of folk singers consisting of his sister, his mother, and his aunt. Opera influenced him a lot.

His song named I'm a-Runnin from the movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller won him a nomination at the mere age of fourteen. In his teenage years, he realized he is a gay and revealed it to his parents. His sexual preference troubled his parents, and they wouldn't like to talk about it. He also revealed that he’s also been a victim of sexual assault.

His father was mighty impressed by his talent and introduced him to Lenny Waronker, the executive of DreamWorks, who later signed him. Since then he has released seven albums and has recorded for various films. Some of his songs and albums are All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, Meet the Robinsons, and many more. He has also acted in few movies.

In 2000, he became severely addicted to crystal meth which almost cost him his vision. His condition deteriorated further, and he began to experience hallucinations. In 2003, he enrolled himself in rehab. In early 2010, he lost his mother, and in the same year, he got engaged to Jörn Weisbrodt. In 2012, Rufus became the artistic director of Luminato, an annual festival of Toronto.

Consequently, he and his partner shifted to Toronto. The couple is also parenting a child with Lorca Cohen, Rufus' childhood friend, and Leonard Cohen's daughter. He is very vocal about his political beliefs and is a firm believer in the fundamental right to liberty. In 2010, he publicly supported same-sex marriage. A biography named Kirk Lake: There Will Be Rainbows is available which chronicles his life and struggles.