Sound Advice: Rufus Wainwright Returns to the Queen City for a Ludlow Garage Performance

This story is featured in CityBeat's May 1 print edition.

On May 7, celebrated singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright will appear at Ludlow Garage in Clifton. In 1998, Rufus, son of famed folk singers Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle, burst onto the music scene with his self-titled debut album, released by DreamWorks Records. Rolling Stone named the debut the best album of the year and Wainwright the best new artist.

Prior to the release, Rufus had lived in Canada and played weekly shows at Cafe Sarajevo in Montreal and soon after moved to New York City where he performed regularly at Club Fez. But it was when he relocated to Los Angeles that he began recording his first album. Once the record was released, Rufus embarked on a long tour to promote it, first sharing the stage with Sean Lennon and later headlining his own shows.

After the tour, Wainwright relocated back to New York City and moved into the Chelsea Hotel. It was in the six months he lived in the infamous establishment that he wrote most of the songs that would later become his second album, Poses . Released in 2001, Poses was another critically acclaimed release, which sent him even further up the musical ladder.

From 2001 to 2004 he toured with music superstars Sting and Tori Amos. Rufus Wainwright’s appearance at the Ludlow Garage isn’t the first time the iconic artist has brought his music to Cincinnati. Rufus’ ties to the Queen City date back to 2018 when his second opera, Hadrian , was part of the workshop Opera Fusion: New Works, which was a collaboration with Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Wainwright’s love of opera began in his early teens, and in the early 2000s the Met Opera in New York City commissioned what would be his first opera, entitled Prima Donna , which later premiered at the Manchester International Festival. In 2015 Prima Donna was revived in a new production and accompanied by a film directed by Francesco Vezzoli. Rufus’ performance at the Ludlow Garage is part of his current tour promoting his latest release, Folkocracy , his 11th studio release, an album he refers to as a recorded birthday party where he invited all the singers he admired to sing with him. Do not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see and hear one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time.

Rufus Wainwright plays Ludlow Garage at 7:30 p.m. on May 7. Info: ludlowgaragecincinnati.com .