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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tScreengrab released on March 14, Rufus Wainwright performs for the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony broadcast on March 14, 2021.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tScreengrab released on March 14, Rufus Wainwright performs for the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony broadcast on March 14, 2021.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Rich Fury\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n
\u201cI come from a long line of troubadors, whether it\u2019s my parents or sisters, aunts and uncles,\u201d says the ever-elegant songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Rufus Wainwright<\/a>, with a tiny twinkle when I ask him how he\u2019ll curate his upcoming show at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts<\/a> on November 4.<\/p>\n Not breaking that process down to any sort of specifics, he continues. \u201cThere are just a lot of songs at any time that I\u2019m inhabiting and investigating or composing and reevaluating, so what you get to see that very evening is just a slice of my actual life.\u201d <\/p>\n There is a wealth of material for Wainwright to choose from. Over the years, he has blended his lush vocals with stellar composition skills to create genre-fusing music, exploring multiple styles, including Baroque pop, jazz, cabaret and folk.<\/p>\n He does have an idea of what the night will involve.<\/p>\n \u201cI have \u2018Dream Requiem,\u2019 which is out now. That\u2019s lovely, and I\u2019ll sing a bit of that. I\u2019m getting ready to make a new record, so I investigate some of those songs, and then there are the old faithfuls that the audience longs for. Maybe there will be something that day that just pops up that needs some love, and I\u2019m ready to give it love.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDream Requiem\u201d is his 12th studio album, and that\u2019s only one wedge of the large pie that is his career. He\u2019s written a couple of operas, worked on film soundtracks and created music for theatrical productions. <\/p>\n Wainwright also has the audience in mind when thinking about how a night will go. \u201cI like people to come to my shows often, and many do. I met a person the other day, and it was her hundredth show. I keep that in mind. I also like to make the banter unique and relevant to what\u2019s going on in the room at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n Leon Bennett\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/p>\n I ask Wainwright if he ever thought he\u2019d be at a place in his career where someone would tell him they\u2019ve seen him 100 times. The answer has a couple of layers.<\/p>\n \u201cOn one hand, I\u2019m incredibly honored and overjoyed to be this successful. On the other hand, though, I work hard, and I\u2019m traveling all the time, and I do try to make it worth the price of admission. I think my songs are worth a second or third listen,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n In 2023, Wainwright released \u201cFolkocracy,\u201d an exploration of roots music that includes multiple collaborations on traditional folk songs with an array of artists, including Chaka Khan, Anohni, David Byrne, Brandie Carlile and John Legend. The vocal partnerships alone make the record rich and engaging.<\/p>\n I wanted to know how he decided on his list of performers to duet with.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to credit a lot of that to my producer,\u201d he says. That record was produced by Mitchell Froom, who is not only the keyboard player in Crowded House, but he\u2019s also a well-known producer who\u2019s worked with artists like Richard Thompson and Vonda Shepard.<\/p>\n \u201cI came to him wanting to make a folk record. I came with about 50 songs that I enjoy interpreting, and I told him to choose which ones he thought would make a good record. I\u2019d always had a dream scenario of doing something with Chaka Khan. First, because she\u2019s such a great artist, but also because she was in a band called Rufus and Chaka Khan. I thought this combination of Rufus and Chaka Khan singing together would be fun,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n We dove a bit into how making that record affected him, or if it reframed the genre in any way. The shows where he performed the songs seem to have given him much joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey were fantastic. I had my friend Petra Haden singing with me and my sister Lucy Wainwright Roche. The band was great, too. We just had a blast. I didn\u2019t want to tour that record to death, so we did just enough shows, and every one of them was special.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the highlights, he mentions singing with the legendary Judy Collins and performing at the Cambridge Folk Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n The singer has long been vocal about politics, including his feelings about Donald Trump and his policies. We discuss the weight of the current state of the world and how it factors into touring.<\/p>\n \u201cThankfully, I have one song that I can sing that very much expresses my sentiments of the moment. And there are a couple of others that are politically bent. At this point, I don\u2019t even like to go out there and talk about it because so much of the rest of my life is talking about it, whether it\u2019s watching the news or talking with friends or family. It takes up so much space that sometimes when I do a show, I want a break from what\u2019s happening. Nonetheless, it\u2019s important to touch on, and you can\u2019t totally escape. I\u2019m glad I have some music to lean into that\u2019s political so I can put the message out there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Once the tour is done, Wainwright is excited to create more music. \u201cI am looking forward to getting into the studio to make my new album. I work in the studio a lot, so I\u2019m preparing that cocoon,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the place I can evaluate and absorb all the experiences I\u2019ve been having, which are a lot and pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n In between now and then, Arizona awaits.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to it. I love coming to Arizona and can\u2019t wait to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rufus-Wainwright.jpg\")
Rufus Wainwright speaks onstage during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Peacock Theater on February 04, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. <\/p>\n