Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists, songwriters, and composers of his generation.

Rufus Wainwright has written the music and lyrics to new West End musical Opening Night A New Musical at the Gielgud Theatre in London, staring Sheridan Smith and directed by Ivo van Hove.

The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer-songwriter has released ten studio albums to date, three DVDs, and three live albums including the Grammy-nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall. He has collaborated with artists such as Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Miley Cyrus, David Byrne, Boy George, Joni Mitchell, Pet Shop Boys, Heart, Carly Rae Jepsen, Robbie Williams, Jessye Norman, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Sting, and producer Mark Ronson, among many others. He has written numerous songs for movies and TV and two operas. Prima Donna premiered at the Manchester International Festival with subsequent performances in London, Toronto, Hong Kong, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and the Festival d’Avignon among many others. Hadrian premiered in 2018 at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto and a new semi-staged production featuring images by Robert Mapplethorpe premiered in the summer of 2022 at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Peralada Festival. He has been working on his first musical for the West End with Ivo van Hove for a number of years. His latest GRAMMY® and JUNO nominated album of original songs, Unfollow the Rules, finds Wainwright at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty, and a new-found fearlessness. His newly-released studio album Folkocracy marking his 50th birthday features reinvented folk classics and duets with artists like Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, John Legend and Anohni and many more.

Wainwright has now more recently completed a series of symphonic shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of his genre defining albums: Want One and Want Two. The tour crossed the globe, including two Proms concerts at the Albert Hall in London in one night with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, and the Nashville Symphony at Americanafest. While in Nashville, Rufus performed at the Americana Awards, the legendary Bluebird Cafe, and had his premiere at the esteemed Grand Ole Opry. He has recently finished a sold out 3 night retrospective covering over 75 songs from his extensive catalog at the Philharmonie de Paris. Furthermore, Wainwright’s newly completed Requiem will premiere with the Orchestre Philharmonique de la Radio France in June of 2024. Co-commissioners for the Requiem are the Master Chorale in Los Angeles, the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, the Helsinki Symphony Orchestra, the RTE Orchestra in Ireland, and the Royal Ballet London.

More about tickets to Opening Night at the Gielgud Theatre in London

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