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Congratulations are in order for singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright … because he has announced that he is the father of a baby girl!! Rufus issued an official statement on his official website announcing that his daughter, Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen, was born on February 2. Apparently, Rufus had the child with Lorca Cohen (daughter of famed singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen) and his fiancée Jörn WeisBrodt has been named “deputy dad”. Read on for the full statement announcement.

Aussie pop queen Kylie Minogue and US piano queen Rufus Wainwright performed together in NY this weekend at a benefit concert at the Hamptons Watermill Center. Kylie and Rufus dueted on a string of hit songs together, including Kylie‘s mega-hit songs The Locomotion, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and her new single All The Lovers. Here are a few photos of Kylie and Rufus on stage together and some deets from the benefit concert:

Kylie Minogue took to the stage with singer Rufus Wainwright for an unusual performance at a charity event in New York on Saturday night. The pop star sang at the benefit show at the Hamptons Watermill Center and thrilled the star-studded audience, including Mark Ronson and Anjelica Huston, by duetting on a variety of her hits including Can’t Get You Out of My Head. The pair also performed If I Loved You from musical Carousel, before Wainwright closed the show with an emotional rendition of Over the Rainbow, which he dedicated to his late mother, folk singer Kate McGarrigle, according to New York Post gossip column Page Six.

As amazing as these photos are … it’s the performances that you really have to see to appreciate the awesomeness of this pairing. After the jump, check out video from Saturday night’s performance of Kylie and Rufus dueting on The Locomotion, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, All The Lovers and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart …

Last night my friend Jordan and I made our way to the Greek Theater here in LA to see Rufus Wainwright live in concert. Rufus‘s extremely talented little sister Martha was the opening act and they put on one hell of an amazing concert together. Martha‘s set was short but very sweet and Rufus‘s show was, well, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before:

The first half of the show was intended as a self-contained art piece complete with visuals and some theatrics. Before Rufus took the stage, this announcement was read aloud:

The first part of the program will be performed as a song cycle with visuals by Douglas Gordon. During the first set, Rufus has asked that you please do not applaud until after he has left the stage. His exit is part of the piece. After a brief intermission, Rufus will return for the second part of the show during which you may applaud to your heart’s content. Please also refrain from photography during the first set.

Then Rufus took the stage wearing a costume with a 15 ft. train and performed in its entirety, in chronological order his entire new album All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu. Some folks in the audience found it difficult to refrain from applauding but all in all, everyone complied with Rufus‘s instructions. This portion of the show was haunting and very beautiful. The second half of the show as more concert-like and very fun. After the jump, check out some photos from that part of the show …

Musician Rufus Wainwright, a gay man who was previously against the notion of legalizing same-sex marriage, has changed his tune now that he finds himself in a predicament where he now wishes he could marry his foreign-born partner. Rufus has been in a relationship with German arts administrator Jörn WeisBrodt, who he describes as the “light of [his] life”, for about 5 years and now wishes the couple could marry … so now he’s speaking out about his new-found support for the legalization of same-sex marriage:

Rufus Wainwright is supporting the fight to legalize same-sex unions in the U.S. because he’d love to marry his longterm partner Jorn WeisBrodt. The singer has credited German theater producer Jorn with inspiring him to speak out for gay rights, insisting he never wanted to settle down before meeting his partner. But Wainwright is frustrated by laws that keep the couple from sealing their union. He says, “I have been with Jorn for five years and he’s the light of my life. He’s my inspiration, support and he’s good in the sack, too! But I am very aware of living in the U.S., of the conundrum that you can’t marry your gay partner and give him citizenship. He has to apply for a green card and he may or may not get accepted, which is annoying when you’re in a committed relationship. If we were straight, we could get married and he’d get his American passport and it would make a lot of sense. I wasn’t a huge gay marriage supporter before I met Jorn because I love the whole old-school promiscuous Oscar Wilde freak show of what ‘being gay’ once was. But since meeting Jorn that all changed.”

First and foremost, I am thrilled that Rufus has finally seen the light (of his life) and is now on board with the push to legalize same-sex marriage in this country. While I’m a bit disappointed that Rufus didn’t decide to lend his support to marriage equality until he felt the need to marry, I am very pleased that he is now actively speaking out on the issue. I am 100% utterly convinced that same-sex marriage will be legal in the US and I hope to see it become a reality in my lifetime. The more people speak out (whether they fully identify or not) on the issue, the better chance we have to make it become a reality. I’m actually very happy that Rufus found someone to make an honest man out of him. I wish him and Jörn all the happiness in the world … and hopefully a happy wedding day soon.

[Source]

Rufus Wainwright has announced the release of his next album which is due out in April … and today we get our first tease of his new release titled All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu. As you may recall, Rufus lost his mother Kate McGarrigle last month and in a new interview with The Guardian, Rufus explains his new music has been colored by his mother’s long illness:

On the eve of a new album and the London debut of his opera, Prima Donna, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright talks about fatherhood, the first ‘gay sonnet’ and his grief at the death of his mother, Kate McGarrigle, last month — I meet Rufus Wainwright for lunch in London a week after the funeral of his mother, the folk singer Kate McGarrigle, and he is still undone by the shock of grief – now tearful, now dissolving into his high camp laugh – raw-nerved in red clogs, skinny jeans and an old T-shirt, trying to keep himself in check with drawled ironies. Anyone who has followed the tortured and overlapping autobiographies of the Wainwright family in song, a confessional love story that has also involved the absent father (Loudon Wainwright III, who walked out on McGarrigle when Rufus was three) and the rival diva sister, Martha, will know that it has always been a drama with oedipal subtexts. Loudon, who originally welcomed his son into the world with the song “Rufus is a Tit Man”, said recently in an interview that he pushed to move Rufus to a boarding school in his early teens “just to get him away from his mother”. The four of them were reunited briefly at Kate’s hospital bedside before she died, along with her singing sisters Anna and Jane, and closest friend Emmylou Harris. The farewell became, as Rufus recalls, inevit­ably, an impromptu performance: “We sang to her as she lay there… as we were having this jamboree, her breathing became more laboured and she made a moaning noise. One of the nurses said this could go on for four days and we had already exhausted the back catalogue. Then Kate breathed a little differently, it was like she was saying, ‘Hold on, I’m going to end this show’, and she died. I was looking right into her face, her eyes were open, and my aunt Jane was holding her hand. It was an amazing experience…” Because he has had more than three years to contemplate the passing of his mother – she was first diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in the summer of 2006 – Wainwright has already had the chance to unpack some of his grief in music, and few songwriters are better equipped to find those extremes – from mournful melody to show-must-go-on production number. He is in London to prepare, at Sadler’s Wells, for what must feel now a little like a double-bill requiem involving a staging of his first opera, Prima Donna, and the beginning of a tour that will debut his new album, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu. In both cases the music was shadowed by his mother’s illness, and counterpointed with the first contented long-term ­relationship of a promiscuous and mostly unhappy romantic life, with the theatre producer Jörn ­Weisbrodt … Songs for Lulu (“an eerie album, essentially my mourning while my mother was still alive”) grows out of the haunting lyric for a song called “Zebulon” (“My mother’s in the hospital, my sister’s at the opera/ I’m in love again, but let’s not talk about it…”) and includes three Shakespeare sonnets, set memorably to music; but it is also, Wainwright says, something of a homage to his former party-loving and addicted self – Lulu – seen from the vantage of hard-won sobriety. He feared once or twice that his settled relationship with Jörn might have a debilitating effect on his gift for tainted love songs, the yearning, nuanced ballads, one part Morrissey, one part Mahler, with which he made his name. “I wondered if not being in these fatalistic disasters with boys, I would lose this dark lake of pain to drink from. But I needn’t have worried too much,” he says, with his wild laugh. “In many ways, Songs for Lulu is a reaffirmation of that persona. Highly romantic, highly unstable. I mean, what I have found is that once you give up on a life, it doesn’t go away. You are always appeasing, or bargaining with, or neglecting that former self, the spirit who used to be behind the wheel, and would like to be still. I don’t cross to that side of the street any more. But it is important for me as a healthy person to acknowledge that the demons are still around.”

You can read the entirety of Rufus‘s interview with The Guardian HERE wherein he talks about his mother’s last days, his Prima Donna opera and his Songs for Lulu album. I am really anxious to hear any new material from Wainwright. I’ve been a fan since his debut album came out all those years ago and have been avidly following his career ever since. I’m not sure when or if I’ll be able to see his opera performed live but a new album is something I can very much look forward to. April cannot get here soon enough for me! Any other Rufus Wainwright fans in the hiz? Exciting news, yes?

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Yesterday we learned the very sad news that Canadian folk legend Kate McGarrigle lost her battle with cancer at the age of 63 on Monday night and today we are hearing from her her son, Rufus Wainwright, on his mother’s passing. Rufus posted a short blogpost on his official website to add to the eulogies that have been written about his late mother in an attempt to enlighten the last 3 1/2 years of her life. Here is Rufus‘s message about Kate in full:

When inevitably I read today in the papers that my mother lost her battle with cancer last night, I am filled with an immense desire to add that this battle, though lost, was tremendously fruitful during these last three and a half years of her life. She witnessed her daughter’s marriage, the creation of my first opera, the birth of her first grandchild Arcangelo, and gave the greatest performance of her life to a packed crowd at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Not to mention traveling to some of the world’s most incredible places with both my sister, her husband Brad, my boyfriend Jorn and myself. Yes, it was all too brief, but as I was saying to her sister Anna last night while sitting by her body after the struggle had ceased, there is never enough time and she, my amazing mother with whom everyone fell in love, went out there and bloody did it. I will miss you mother, my sweet and valiant explorer, lebwohl and adio. X

In 2008, Kate established the Kate McGarrigle Fund in association with McGill University Health Centre, the Jewish General Hospital through the MUHC Foundation, the Cedars Cancer Institute, and Cancer Research UK in order to raise money and awareness for the fight against this rare type of cancer. If you would like to make a donation in honour of Kate, please follow this link below and donate online or call the MUHC Foundation directly at +1-514-931-5656.

Kate McGarrigle Fund donation website: http://www.muhcfoundation.com/kate

I cannot imagine the pain of eulogizing one’s own mother (for which I continue to be grateful) but I can appreciate that Rufus felt it was important to explain how rich his mother’s life was before she succumbed to her illness. I have no doubt that Kate McGarrigle knew how much she was loved by her children and relished in their happiness and success. While we cannot know what her last moments on Earth were like, we can hope that she is now at peace and at rest.

[Source, thanks Lauren]

Very sad news to pass long to folk music fans and fans of Martha and Rufus Wainwright … we are learning today that their mother and Canadian folk legend Kate McGarrigle has passed away. I understand that McGarrigle succumbed to a rare form of cancer and lost her battle just last night. Kate McGarrigle was only 63 years old :(

Canadian folk and roots music singer Kate McGarrigle, best known for her work with her sister, Anna, as the McGarrigle Sisters, has died at age 63. McGarrigle, born in Montreal, died Monday night after battling a rare form of cancer, confirmed her brother-in-law, journalist Dane Lanken. The mother of musicians Rufus and Martha Wainwright through her previous marriage with American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, McGarrigle is a music industry icon in her own right. The McGarrigle sisters recorded 10 albums in French and English, and their songs have been covered by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Billy Bragg and Emmylou Harris. In 1993, McGarrigle was made a member of the Order of Canada. Reports that McGarrigle was critically ill surfaced over the weekend after her son, Rufus, cancelled his tour of Australia and New Zealand, scheduled to begin in February, to be with her.

This is just absolutely heartbreaking news. 63 is far too young to die and I know that Kate McGarrigle was a woman full of life, full of zest. It never occurred to me when I heard of Rufus‘s tour cancellation that it had anything to do with his mother … this is so tragic. I admit, I am no folk music fan … but when I became a fan of Rufus Wainwright and I learned of his famous parents, I sought out their music to see from whence his talent came. I was very impressed by The McGarrigle Sisters (Kate and Anna) and considered myself a fan of theirs. This is just … so sad. After the jump, check out a video of Kate performing with her children Martha and Rufus at Radio City Music Hall on Valentine’s Day 2008 …

Celebs of varying stature and fame made their way to Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center in NYC, NY last night to attend the 2009 American Ballet Theatre Gala. Musician Rufus Wainwright, who tends to have more of an affinity for opera, was in attendance as well as Gossip Girl newbie Joanna Garcia and BFFs Natalie Portman & Mila Kunis. The newly single Emmy Rossum (who filed for divorce from her hubby a couple of weeks ago) showed up on the arm of Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons:

Oh wait, I’m sorry … Emmy showed up with Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz, not Sideshow Bob … sorry about that. But, c’mon, you can see how I got confused. It’s nice to see young celebs taking an interest in the arts … why, David and I attended a ballet performance of Romeo and Juliet here in LA just this last July for my birthday. I sincerely hope the celebs who attended last night’s gala affair did so out of an honest appreciation for dance rather than an available opportunity to dress up and pose in their finery for a photo op.

[Photo credit: Wireimage]

The always fabulous Rufus Wainwright is featured in the new issue of Interview magazine wherein he talks about the opera that he has been composing for the past few years. The piece is titled Prima Donna (of course) and will be making its worldwide debut in Manchester, England this July. Here is Rufus‘s Interview magazine photo and his interview with Caryn Ganz for the mag:

After releasing six albums, appearing in a handful of films, and single-handedly resurrecting the songbook of Judy Garland, Rufus Wainwright took the next logical step: He spent three years writing a two-hour opera. But Prima Donna, which will premiere this July at the Manchester International Festival in England, isn’t the only bizarre career move Wainwright has taken lately. He just wrapped up work in Berlin on a musical adaptation of Shakespearean sonnets with director Robert Wilson. On that project, his feelings are mixed: “It was a bit like World War II over there,” he laughs, “which is to be expected, I guess, because that’s where World War II took place.” But Wainwright considers it “a good booster shot” for what he’ll experience once he unveils Prima Donna. The opera’s main character is Régine Saint Laurent, a diva who disappears for six years following a tragedy on the night of a premiere. The story begins on the morning of her return to the stage. Saint Laurent is seizing her moment, much like the 35-year-old Wainwright, a lifelong opera buff who accelerated his artistic plans once his mother became sick with cancer. “Once illness strikes, you realize there’s not a lot of time for you to do what you really need to do,” he says. “And there’s no time like the present.”

CARYN GANZ: The star of your opera is literally a diva. Were you drawing on anyone specific?

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT:Well, the closest one would be [Sunset Boulevard’s] Norma Desmond, or actual old silent-movie stars who had it all taken away from them. I suppose one could argue that there were Madonna moments. Some people think my opera is about her early career in Detroit or something—like, Pre-Madonna.

GANZ: Divas loom large in high culture, but also in low culture like reality shows. Did both sides of that persona inspire you?

WAINWRIGHT: There is actually a great book called Prima Donna by Rupert -Christiansen that deconstructs the myth. In fact, many of the women who were prima donnas were feminists and incredible forces for their time. You had to be an over-the-top, demanding, dramatic figure in order to progress as a woman in Europe over the last few hundred years. Now people say, “You’re being such a prima donna,” meaning you’re being hard to deal with or crazy. It’s a bit sexist.

GANZ: Did you set out to write a feminist opera?

WAINWRIGHT: It’s funny, now that you mention it—I didn’t set out to do that. But I was keenly aware that I didn’t want to draw on too many typically doomed aspects of the fated singer. Whether it’s Judy Garland or Norma Desmond, there is this tragic quality to older women that one can revel in, and you want it to be more three-dimensional than that. So it was important for the character to be strong and resilient, because there are so many victims in opera.

GANZ: The opera also lasers in on the idea of the comeback, which, from Mickey Rourke to Britney Spears, is one of the most compelling tropes in our culture right now.

WAINWRIGHT: Well, in a way I’m kind of making my own comeback. I’ve been in the business now for 20 years. I’ve had my ups and downs, and I definitely have a sense—in America, especially—that once you’ve made your mark and gotten your Rolling Stone piece and your Grammy nomination, that they’re on to the next piece of meat, and they don’t necessarily like to follow the twists and turns of an artistic career. Throwing an opera at them is something they have to notice. There’s nothing subtle about it. I don’t know if it will be my big comeback, but I think it is a statement—that I am a self-sustaining, vibrant, long-term artist, and I’m not going away! And if you don’t give me credit, then the musical gods will!

GANZ: As everything about the music industry gets more digital, you’re moving in the opposite direction—opera and Shakespeare . . .

WAINWRIGHT: I definitely have a Luddite’s approach to what’s going on. I find that as I get older, I get stupider. For me, the iPhone is harder than reading Faust. I’ve been hanging out a bit with Lou Reed, and he’s the complete opposite. He’s into technology and is kind of like a toddler, compared to me, who’s like an old 19th-century widow or something.

GANZ: Your opera is in French, which is one reason you didn’t end up at the Met. What can you do in French that you can’t do in English?

WAINWRIGHT: The operas I listen to aren’t in English, and I want to listen to my opera after I’m done with it. I want to have the desire to play it on the stereo. To me, the language is part of the mystery. Growing up, for years and years I had no idea what the plots of operas were, and that’s part of what fascinated me—I could make them up and learn bits and pieces of what was going on over time. There’s something about it being always a step away that makes it more fun to chase.

GANZ: I read in a New York Times profile that you saw a production of Strauss’s Elektra at the Met high on drugs. Do you recommend people come to your opera in a similar state?

WAINWRIGHT: Well, my great lesson with that was I went to the same production twice—once completely high and once completely sober—and both times were equally wonderful. Opera is above drugs and alcohol and you don’t have to be fucked up to either write it or see it. It’s about transcendentalism. It’s not of this world. So I’d suggest not being fucked up, because you’re just wasting your money.

At last … Rufus Wainwright is ready to unleash his opera upon the world. I’ve been hearing about this opera of his for years, I’m glad to see that he has finally followed thru and that it is ready for release. I must admit, I am no fan of opera. Sure, the music sounds lovely and beautiful but if I am not familiar with the language, I will not have the fortitude to sit thru an entire performance and be content with not knowing what is going on. But, I am a huge Wainwright fan and I have some knowledge of French … this is a show that I would deffo make time to see if I had the chance. I have been following Rufus Wainwright‘s career since he released his debut album … I absolutely love his music. I am really curious to hear what this new opera of his sounds like. I wonder if I’ll be able to see the show when David and I go to London later this year. In any event, I wish him much success on this new endeavor … I don’t really know that writing an opera is the way to capture the imagination of the US audience but I know it’s a project that Rufus has held near and dear to his heart for a very long time. Any Rufus Wainwright fans in the hiz?

[Photo credit: Daniel Jackson; Source]