Mondo.NYC Speaker
Rufus Wainwright
Vocalist & Songwriter
Praised by the New York Times for his “genuine originality,” Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer songwriter has released nine studio albums, three DVDs and three live albums, including the fantastic Grammy nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, which captured his celebrated Judy Garland tribute performance at the London Palladium in 2007, and the album Release The Stars which went Gold in Canada and the U.K.
Wainwright has received Juno Awards for Best Alternative Album in 1999 and 2002 for Rufus Wainwright and Poses, respectively, and nominations for his albums Want Two (2005) and Release the Stars (2008). He was nominated for Songwriter of the Year in 2008 for his Release the Stars album.
In addition to being a celebrated contemporary pop singer, Rufus has made a name for himself in the classical world. His much acclaimed first opera titled Prima Donna premiered at the Manchester International Festival in July 2009.
In July, Wainwright released his album Unfollow the Rules via BMG. Wainwright’s ninth studio LP and first new pop album since 2012, Unfollow the Rules finds the artist at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty and a new-found fearlessness while remaining as creative, bold and mischievous as ever. Produced by Mitchell Froom at a variety of legendary Los Angeles studios – including Sound City Studios, United Recording, and EastWest Studios – the album serves as both bookend to Act I of an extraordinary career which, like Unfollow The Rules, began in the studios of Los Angeles, but also now as the first lines of a remarkable new chapter. Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London and Laurel Canyon, songs like “Only The People That Love” and the spirited, symphonic “Devils and Angels (Hatred)” find the gifted singer-songwriter ready to tackle new challenges, yet compelled to confront his past by making sense of how he has grown both as a musician and the contented family man he has become.
A Conversation with John Loeffler, Rufus Wainwright & Jerry Wonda
10/15/20, 9:00 PM
John Loeffler of BMG will lead an animated conversation with Internationally recognized singer/songwriter/performer Rufus Wainwright and acclaimed Songwriter/Record Producer, Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis. They will explore the challenges of releasing music during the COVID pandemic as well as describe the different strategies for marketing indie-pop, R&B and hip hop in the era of social media and streaming platforms.