Rufus Wainwright Biography

Fast Facts

• Named Best New Artist in 1999 by Rolling Stone magazine
• Studied piano performance at McGill University in Canada
• Son of folk singers, Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright
• Temporarily lost his vision in the early 2000s after becoming addicted to methamphetamines
• Began playing the piano at six-years-old and started performing with his family band at 13-years-old
• Relocated from Canada to New York City and later Los Angeles to work on his debut, self-titled album that was later released in 1998
• Signed his first deal with DreamWorks after his father passed along some of his demo tapes to friends in the business
• Interested in opera since childhood, he began writing them himself in the early 2000s
• After hearing Verdi's Requiem at 14-years-old, he would listen to only opera for the next decade of his life