Rufus Wainwright was born in 1973 to the folk singers Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III. Rufus and his sister Martha performed with their mother from their teens, and since his debut in 1998, he has released 11 more studio albums spanning folk, rock, country and classical. He has a daughter with Lorca Cohen, Leonard Cohen’s daughter, and is married to the German arts impresario Jörn Weisbrodt. Wainwright returns to the Royal Albert Hall in June for a 20th-anniversary performance of Rufus Does Judy, his acclaimed recreation of Judy Garland’s 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall.
What are you up to right now?
I’m in Los Angeles and I’m a bit jetlagged. I’ve been in New York working – I’m getting ready to make another record, sort of a pop record, with a very exciting producer. When I started out, I prized myself on being this unusual ivory-tower guest who knew about opera and the American songbook. But now I’m finding it more interesting to just see what people are in to, whether it’s Chappell Roan or Mitski. I even got into [the girl group] Katseye for five seconds. What’s ironic is that my teenage daughter listens to all the music from my generation: Elliot Smith, Jeff Buckley. She loves Radiohead.
You first performed your Judy Garland show in 2006. Why return to it now?
This is the final Judy show. I didn’t want to be in my 60s hollering show tunes. The album [Rufus Does Judy] didn’t make me rich or win a Grammy, but a lot of young people say to me: “That was the album that really got me.” So I just want to celebrate that, and put a bow on it.
You have family history with Garland, too.
Yeah, my grandfather knew her. And she babysat my dad once or twice, which is kind of hilarious. I’m sure there was help involved. In fact, my aunt had an early memory of being at Judy Garland’s house as a small child, and Judy was on the couch with a broken leg and a scotch. So I’m sure there must have been somebody else there. And [Garland’s daughter] Liza Minnelli was the first girl my dad fell in love with, when he was 10.
What drew you to Garland?
She had it all. Whenever you see a picture or a clip of her, there’s this incredible power that comes from her face. The camera and her had this very powerful relationship, [even more so] than Liz Taylor or Marilyn Monroe. They were great beauties, but Judy was something else. She was a beautiful alien.
Addiction shaped both Garland and Minnelli. You’ve been clean for a long time now, but it was a big part of your life too.
Judy died at 47. This year I’m doing the show [at 52] and that is a gift and a blessing. I could have definitely been in the same barrel.
Take us back to 2006.
I was so upset about the Iraq war and I couldn’t stand [the US]. I started listening to Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall to remind me of all the great things that America can be and create and represent. And so it was this kind of lifeline to my home and I decided to do the concert. Of course, now we’re in the same predicament – arguably much worse. The American dream is being flipped in this horrific way. These songs are in peril at the moment.
One of the things under threat in the US is LGBTQ+ rights. Does that worry you?
It’s become worse for gay men and women. But there’s an actual witch hunt for trans people. The insecurity [around the trans debate] is being weaponised, and it’s a serious human rights issue in America. Trans people are having their driver’s licences taken away. It’s chilling.
Do you have faith in the Democrats?
I’m actually quite hopeful about what’s going to happen [in the midterm elections] in November. Seeing the Republicans squirming and trying to do anything they can to salvage some kind of majority is pathetic. During the first Trump administration, when everybody was freaking out, a German friend of mine said: “You know, Rufus, in America, when shit like this happens, it’s out front, everybody sees it. In Europe, it kind of pops up out of nowhere. And I think in America now, you know who your enemy is. You know what you have to do.”
It’s two years since your musical Opening Night closed early after mixed reviews. What was that experience like?
I do not regret it in the least. I will say, though, that at the beginning Neil Tennant said to me: “Rufus, you’re all excited now, and wrapped up in the fantasy of it, but just know that when it collapses, which it probably will, there is a certain type of heartache which is reserved for people whose musicals fail, and it’s really brutal.” He was 100% correct. I never felt so low in my life.
Your mother died in 2010. Do you see yourself as a guardian of her legacy?
There’s her legacy, and there’s my father, who is celebrating his 80th birthday this year with a big concert in New York. I am a mama’s boy and I really [want] to promote her songwriting. In my opinion, she was one of the great geniuses of her age. It’s a joy, and a sadness, to do that.
Does having her recordings give you comfort?
It’s amazing. It was Mother’s Day here in America recently, and I was cleaning up my apartment and one of my mom’s songs came on. I was able to celebrate Mother’s Day with someone who wasn’t around, in a very tangible way.
Minnelli’s memoir came out a couple of months ago. Have you read it?
I haven’t yet. I would love to. Liza and I have had an interesting past. There were moments where we didn’t understand each other very well, and we were both in quite turbulent times of our lives. I embraced the Judy Garland thing in such a massive way, and that whole subject for Liza is tricky. But then last New Year’s Eve, we had a wonderful evening: we were able to just hug and sing together. That was very important for me… Talk about putting a bow on it.
Rufus Does Judy is at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 10 June
Photograph by Julien Benhamou