The Big Damn Rufus Wainwright Primer...Of Doom!
This is a primer I made to Rufus Wainwright for fuckingunicorns. Enjoy it!
So...Rufus Wainwright. OMG. Where the hell to start?
RUFUS IS PRETTY. AND ALSO FABULOUSLY GAY. VERY. VERY. GAY.
Rufus Wainwright is regarded by many in the music industry as the best-kept secret LIVING LEGEND performing today. His public following is medium-sized, absolutely devoted, and wildly diverse. His following within the record industry and amongst celebrities is...pretty much everyone. Basically, anyone who meets him falls in love with him. (I can attest to this, having met him three times. *blushes*)
Unlike most of the people we fangirl over, RUFUS IS AN ACTUAL GAY. He's been gay his entire life, with a few exceptions. This caused issues between Rufus and his father about which Rufus has written many songs. They've recently gotten over their bullshit, though, and remain close.
Rufus' music can best be described as Popera or Baroque Pop. Basically, if Panic! at the Disco were about 500 times more mature, worldly, and sophisticated, they would be Rufus Wainwright.
AND NOW ON WITH THE PICTURES!
A lot of these were ganked from this thread on Rufus' official website. Go there for about 5000 more awesome pictures. People love photographing Rufus. I mean., there are literally thousands of pictures of this guy, even though he's not technically popstar famous. You're about to find out why.
Here is Rufus' Wikipedia entry for more in-depth info.
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Cigarettes and chocolate milk
these are just a couple of my cravings
Everything it seems I like's a little bit stronger,
A little bit thicker, a little bit harmful for me
Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk
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THE EARLY YEARS / FAMILY PHOTOS
Rufus grew up the son of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle in New York and Canada. They toured all the time and Rufus as well as his sisters, including fellow performer Martha Wainwright, went with them quite a bit. Rufus grew up surrounded by music, and by the time he was old enough to play the piano, he was pretty much a prodigy. He went to Millbrook in New York, an exclusive music academy.
Rufus was in the boy scouts. Scary, right? (He's on the far left.)
Rufus' mother, Kate McGarrigle (left), and her sister Anna. They were a folk singing sensation!
His father Louden Wainwright III, also an old-school folk legend. You might also recognize him from a number of film roles, including "Big Fish" and "The Aviator." He's lovable, but also kind of a jackass.
Rufus with Louden, after the Want albums were released and Louden stopped being an asshole. He's really pretty proud of his only son (even if he's a big old' fag. LOL). :D
Awwwwwww. Rufus and his sister Martha as kidlings.
Rufus and Martha all grown up! :D
OK NOW. LET'S TAKE A SECOND TO TALK ABOUT MARTHA. BECAUSE...YES!
Martha and Rufus have mad family resemblance.
Martha is beautiful. And sexy. AND HAS AWESOME BOOBIES. We all love the boobs, right?
She also has stellar legs. Holy cow.
Martha performing. She's part hippy and part glamour girl. Sometimes I think she MUST be Greta of The Hush Sound's hero. They seem very similiar. GRETA/MARTHA FEMMESLASH, Y/Y?!?!
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A bit of you is the only drug I must abuse
A bit of you is the only substance I cannot refuse
A Bit of You
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RUFUS WAINWRIGHT/POSES ERA
In which Rufus does a lot of modelling, a LOT of drugs, makes crazy music, and is a chameleon:
Rufus did (and still does) a lot of modelling. This picture never ceases to amaze me. LOL.
Sexy young musical genius.
Rufus on the Runway.
Rufus looks exceptional in black and white.
Or in color! It really doesn't matter!
Rufus from the "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" single shoot. Those headphones are deadly cute.
Somewhere around here, Rufus began doing enough drugs to kill a small horse. He looked kind of sexy while doing them.
He also became kind of a whore. He admitted to his sexual craziness in a couple of interviews, including one where he was drunk off his ass and let them take pictures of him like this:
IT WAS AWESOME. CLEARLY.
OMGWTFBBQ Rufus?! He's such a cameleon. He has extremes. I love them all.
HELLO RUFUS' PUBES. HOW ARE YOU TODAY?
After Poses was released, Rufus toured forever and ever and ever with Teddy Thompson and Sean Lennon and Tori Amos and a bunch of other awesome people. He also did a crapton of drugs and drank himself stupid ONSTAGE pretty much every night.
At the end of the tour, Rufus went into seclusion in New York's infamous Chelsea Hotal trying to write. It didn't happen. Instead he fell into the "gay underworld" as he calls it. He became addicted to crystal meth and used cocaine and esctasy regularly. (At one point he went temporarily blind due to crystal meth overuse.) He also had a lot of unprotected sex with random men (and women probably, because he really doesn't remember much). He soon began hallucinating about his father and generally freaking out.
He went to rehab for a long, long time and came out, thankfully, healthy. The best part was, HIS FANS HAD NO IDEA. He kept everything a secret until he was released, when he went into the studio and churned out over 50 songs in the span of a few months. These songs became the Want albums, Want One and Want Two.
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Why am I always on a plane or a fast train?
Oh what a world my parents gave me
Always traveling, but not in love,
Still I think I'm doing fine
Oh What A World
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THE WANT ERA
Clean and sober and sparkly with new ambition, Rufus went on his most successful tour to date and owned face all over the country for a year or two. He took part in the Lennon Tribute and was on TV a ton, becoming much more of a public figure and also patching up the somewhat strained relations with his family.
The first two pictures released after he came out of rehab and everyone was all 'WTF? He went to rehab? When did that happen?' Ahaha. He looked so healthy and awesome, tho. :D
From the Want One album shoot. Rufus as Galahad. He likes playing dressup.
He went right back to modelling. Oh hello there, leather jacket of hotness.
He dove into the studio, coming out every now and then to do shows. He also grew this tragic beard. LOL.
He's so happy when performing. :D
The Want albums made him more famous than ever. He hangs with divas and starlettes!
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And when there's nothing to gain, or bring me pain,
Or pin the blame on you or myself
And when they finally fall,
these wailing walls and burdened crosses,
God's twilights and all
Beautiful Child
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PRESENT
Rufus has recently been touring behind a full recreation of Judy Garland's legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall concert. Yes, you read that right. He gets up onstage and performs an ENTIRE 3-hour masterpiece performance as Judy Garland, complete with the very same outfits she wore (except suits in place of dresses...most of the time).
He also has a new studio album called Release The Stars coming out in May. HOLY SHIT YAY!!!! :D
He is also writing an opera for the Metripolitan Opera House tentatively entitled "Prima Donna." The libretto is in FRENCH, people.
Some more recent pics from the Judy Garland tour and such:
These pics are the most recent pics of him I think we currently have. He looks so normal and sweet.
On his current tour he wears some EXCEPTIONAL outfits. *eyes bleed*
He also sometimes performs his controversial song "Gay Messiah" in a bright blue tunic on a crucifix. Yeah, he's just like that.
He's still modelling. This time for Viktor & Rolf at a number of European shows. I say they had a threesome. Who's with me?
He's still all artsy~ and sexy~ as always.
The band he tours with is MASSIVE to recreate the lush instrumentation on his albums (all of which he scores himself). His tour band includes a horn section, three female back-up singers (usually including Martha), an upright bass player, two guitarists, a precussionist with a HUGE variety of instruments, and a violinist. He plays piano or guitar, depending on the song.
He was recently photographed nude for an art show. Ahahaha.
Pretty pictures from the Judy Garland tour.
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Where is my master rebel prince,
who will shut all of these windows
It's these windows all around me,
it's these windows who are telling me
To rid my dirty mind of all of it's preciousness
Rebel Prince
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EVEN MORE RANDOM PICTURES! PICSPAM OF DOOOOOOOM!
Rufus is FIERCE! RAWR!
Sometimes he gets his onstage sexy dress wrong. VERY VERY WRONG. And you thought Ryan Ross wore some gay shit onstage...
Sometimes he gets it right. VERY VERY RIGHT. *drools a little* ... *drools a LOT*
Hot little waiflette. Like a puppy. I want to take him home.
He's a goofy bastard onstage. At a few shows around Halloween and New Years he wore this lovely fairy ensemble.
Dance, Fairy!Rufus, dance!
He's also a goofy bastard if you ever meet him backstage. LOL.
This whole images makes me laugh so hard. Ahahaha.
From back during the onstage red whine binge era. He liked to strip mid-show a lot. Woo!
LOL. Rufus at a bull fight in Spain. So random.
WTF? I love this picture.
Rufus lives in the Chelsea flower district (LOL), in New York City. I may or may not have stalked him a few times. Yeah. *shifty eyes*
I'm not even sure what's going on here, but whatever it is, it's HOT.
This picture is called just "Blecchhh." LOL.
Rufus plays tennis! Badly! And Barefoot!
Rufus makes even the most flamboyant of fashion disasters sexy.
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Start giving me something, a love that is longer than a day
Start making my heart sing something that it doesn't want to say
I'm handing it over, I'm singing that you're the only one
Don't run for the border, turn that corner in movies of myself
Oh, I've seen it all before, in movies of myself
Movies of Myself
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OMG VIDEOS! YAY FOR YOUTUBE!
Here are the videos to Rufus' singles. He doesn't get the chance to make videos a lot, but the ones he does make are quirky and AWESOME.
"California" Video
LOL "Prettyman." Cracktastic video in which Rufus plays a man singing karaoke (badly) to his own song.
(Still trying to find videos for his other two. D: You can view them on his official site if you want to sign up for it.)
Cover of John Lennon's "Across The Universe"
I love this video. :D It's so freaky and cute and strange. And this song is amazing.
The Maker Makes (from the Brokeback Mouintain soundtrack)
Rufus sits at a piano and looks scruffy and just belts that shit out while staring longingly at the camera.
Live performances. Rufus in his element.
Performing "April Fools" on Conan in 1998
Rufus' network TV debut. (Also, funny enough, the time he looks MOST comfortable on TV. LOL.) This song is so amazingly fun and giddy.
Performing "Hallelujah" in Central Park
His version is better that Jeff Buckley's, imo. He sings it so flawlessly!
Performing "Gay Messiah" ON A CRUCIFIX
WTF, Rufus? I love this man. "Rufus the Baptist I be / I won't be the one / baptised in cum." Take note, Wentz. THAT is songwriting. BAHAHAHA.
Performing "One Man Guy" with Martha and Teddy
This is his father's song about being alone turned into a pseudo gay love ballad. There's a LOT of history in this song.
The original live performance of "Across the Universe" at the John Lennon Tribute concert
The song became a big hit for Rufus, Sean Lennon, and Moby. This is the original performance that was magical when it aired. It really introduced Rufus to a huge number of people that had no clue who he was. Plus, he makes hilarious hand gestures. LOL.
Performing "California" on Conan in 2001.
Pre-rehad long-haired skinny Rufus. This song is hilarious and fun. (Califonia...please!)
Performing "Foolish Love"
A recent performance of a song from his first album. A silly little song about silly little love.
Fan video of "Complainte De La Butte"
Because you haven't LIVED until you've heard Rufus speak and sing in French.
Performing "As In Happy
A newish song, probably on his upcoming album. Cute ending. Hehe.
Another new untitles song.
Haha this one has a cool beat. I'd never heard this one before. I bit more blues/rock inspired.
Performing "Go Or Go Ahead"
The best for last, eh? Probably the most powerful song he's ever written, even if it's inspired by a bonker meth binge. LOL. It's also potentially about his rumored failed love affair with Teddy Thompson.
(This is one of the few songs that can make me cry under certain circumstances. It is TRANSCENDANT live.)
Interviews where you can watch Rufus be a catty bitch and a pretty princess all at once:
Early 2001 Interview Part 1 and Part 2
It's amazing to see how much he's changed.
2004 Dutch interview: Part 1 and Part 2
Rufus discusses his family, his mother is interviewed, and there's footage of him as a kid.
Short, adorable 2005 Gastonbury Interview
Rufus' shirt here makes my eyes bleed. LOL.
Random other videos:
Rufus in "The Aviator"
AHAHAHA! He and his father are in this flick as performers at the Coconut Grove during different eras that the film is set in. Rufus performs "Stairway to Paradise" and makes spirit fingers for Martin Scorsese. LOL.
More Rufus Interviews and videos can be found at The Rufus Files.
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He will then be reborn from 1970's porn,
Wearing tubesocks with style, and such an innocent smile
Better pray for your sins, better pray for your sins
'Cause the gay messiah's coming
Gay Messiah
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SOUNDS, PEOPLE!
Here are some cuts from his various albums and also a big bunch of Live and Unreleased stuff.
Self-Titled Album [Megaupload]
A very cabaret early effort. Lots of fun! I've included:
April Fools
Beauty Mark
Matinee Idol
Imaginary Love
Poses [Megaupload]
This is the album where he really came into his own, outside of the influence of his parents. Grand, sweeping Popera. I've included:
Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk
California
Grey Gardens (Bases on the documentary of the smae name about the crazy Kennedy cousins.)
Rebel Prince (This song is so sexy.)
One Man Guy
The Want albums [Megaupload]
These are all from Want One, because those are the real stand-out songs. Rich instumentation and a stellar vocal performance that really shows his growth as an artist. I've included:
I Don't Know What It Is
Go Or Go Ahead (I love this song so much...)
My Phone's On Vibrate For You (Hahahaha he performed this on the Sharon Osbourne Show and made Alex Baldwin hate him.)
14th Street (Panic! wishes they were this cool and cabaret.)
Beautiful Child (TRANSCENDANT.)
Live & Unreleased songs [Megaupload]
Where Rufus really shines is live and in the songs he's done for various other projects. Some of these are my absolute favorites. I've included:
Rainbow Crossing (This song has only been performed once and Rufus no longer remembers how to play it. It is so technically complex on the piano that he can't figure it out again. LOL.)
Across The Universe (Live @ The John Lennon Tribute Concert)
Across The Universe (Studio Version) (So amazing. A new take on a perfect classic.)
Heartburn (The very first song Rufus ever wrote. Rather silly, but awesome.)
Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Blasphemy, I know, but I like his version better than Judy's. Ahahaha.)
Instant Pleasure (The happy sex song!)
A Bit of You (The sexiest song he's ever performed.)
Ups And Downs (A close runner up for sexiest song. With bonus boner references!)
Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley classic. I actually like Rufus' version better. So beautiful.)
Complainte De La Butte (From the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. This is the better version, all in French.)
Sonnet 29 (Rufus SINGS A SHAKESPEARIAN SONNET. Yeah, you read that right.)
The Origin of Love (Rufus' cover of the best song the the Hedwig And The Angry Inch soundtrack.)
Live @ The 930 Club [Megaupload]
This is an entire concert from the Poses era, recorded by a friend at the show I attended. Great sound. One of his last small club gigs before he finished the tour and later went to rehab. Tons of songs from the first two albums.
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I'm just a floozy, an old-fashioned hussy
Trying to kiss you, it hasn't been easy
A lost little puppy dog running away from the pound
Ups & Downs
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OMG. Making this spam has made me re-establish my eternal love for this man. AWESOME. Rufus is love, people.
Now, the way I see it, two pairing NEED to come out of this. Crazy songwriter fic with Patrick/Rufus wherein opposites attract. OMG THE CUTE IS UNENDING. Or crazy songwriting fic with Ryan/Rufus where Rufus snarks continously about how Ryan is biting his style. I mean COME ON, RYAN.
LOL.
Hope you guys enjoyed that! Let me know what you all think, ESPECIALLY those of you unfamiliar with Rufus. I love hearing how other people react to his work. :D