Somebody to Love: Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright is an interesting artist for me. I've never been a fan but only because I was never exposed to his music. It took a friend randomly playing "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" in the car one night for me to finally recognize his talent.

Even still, it wasn't until this week that I finally downloaded the song for myself. I cannot stop listening to it! It's one of those realizations that come on so fast that I'm left wondering how that is the only song of his that I own. I need more.

I'm not even going to claim that I know anything about his albums but I do know this song is off "Poses" and I hear the rest of the album is equally superb. It came out in 2001 when Wainwright was supposedly addicted to crystal meth and living in the Chelsea Hotel. During this time, he reached out to Elton John who in turned directed him to rehab after a really ugly turn in which Wainwright temporarily lost his vision.

Wainwright, 36, has a biography that reads more like a suspense movie and I'm disappointed that I didn't know much of his story before. There's so much to say about this guy: his Wikipedia page states that he would dress up in red lipstick and stilettos while singing Judy Garland and is quoted as saying he wasn't originally a big supporter of same-sex marriage because he "loves the whole old-school promiscuous Oscar Wilde freak show of what 'being gay' once was". Crazy!

I will definitely be following this guy more closely in the coming months and hope to aquire a lot more of his music immediately. How did I not know?!

Rufus Wainwright Discography

Rufus Wainwright (1998)
Poses (2001)
Want One (2003)
Want Two (2004)
Release the Stars (2007)
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (2007)
Milwaukee at Last!!! (2009)
All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010)