Rufus Wainwright

On December 4th, Geffen Records released a CD of Rufus Wainwright’s celebrated Judy Garland tribute concert at Carnegie Hall, which The New York Times called “a tour de force of politically empowering performance art.” The album, titled Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, consists of songs taken from Wainwright’s performance over two nights in June 2006 where he recreated Judy Garland’s original April 23, 1961 concert. Following the Carnegie Hall show, which The New Yorker declared a “triumph,” Wainwright performed the concert at the Palladium in London, the Olympia in Paris and most recently, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. An accompanying DVD will be released, titled Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy! Live At The London Palladium, which was filmed during Wainwright’s performance in London earlier this year.
Wainwright’s recreation of Garland’s original concert is widely acclaimed. Entertainment Weekly described the show as “A reminder of Garland’s heartbreaking legacy and her influence on Wainwright’s own beautifully lush pop.” The reaction was equally strong when Wainwright brought the show to London and Paris this past spring. The Evening Standard said Wainwright gave “the performance of his life in tribute to Garland,” and The Guardian found his performance “brave, audacious, emotionally wrenching, unrepentantly gay and unafraid to show the dirt under Garland’s manicure.” Wainwright’s inspiration behind doing his own version of Judy Garland’s concert came following the September 11 attacks. He found solace in Garland’s music and, as he describes it, “this blissful ignorance of the state of America took over” and he wanted to share that feeling with everyone else.
The original 1961 concert, heralded as “the greatest single night in show business” and widely regarded as the apex of her career, featured Garland singing 26 standards, show stoppers, and songs from her films. In addition, Garland created a live recording of the acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert which garnered five GRAMMY® nominations, winning “Album of the Year” and “Best Female Vocal” album and topping Billboard’s music chart for 13 weeks in a row. To fill these impressive shoes, Wainwright performed with a 40-piece orchestra conducted by famed musical director Stephen Oremus whose credits include Broadway’s Wicked, Avenue Q, and All Shook Up amongst other notable shows across the country.
Wainwright grew up entrenched in iconic music making. His parents are Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, both folk luminaries. Raised in Montreal, Rufus began piano studies at age six and by the time he was 13, he was touring with his mother, his aunt Anna, and his sister Martha. With five solo albums under his belt, including this year’s critically acclaimed Release the Stars, Wainwright continues to define his music by the unique style and theatrical pop sound that has been lauded by his peers, critics, and fans alike.