VIDEO: Rufus Wainwright Discusses 'Road Trip Elegies', Wanting to Star in ANNIE, and More!

Rufus Wainwright recently chatted with PBS NewsHour Weekend in a special segment.

Wainwright's latest album, "Unfollow The Rules" is nominated for a Grammy but it's his unique audio autobiography, "Road Trip Elegies," a conversation with his therapist on a road trip from Montreal to New York City, that delivers insight about his musical journey and the relationships that shaped him and his music.

"I just had this vision all of the sudden to create this podcast-type situation involving both my therapy sessions and song," he said.

Wainwright also talked about how he was fixated on Broadway when he was younger.

"When I was 6 or 7 I saw Annie on Broadway, and I was utterly transfixed. And I immediately told my mother that I wanted to be Annie," she said. "And my mom, who didn't miss a beat, immediately told me that in fact there were certain productions in nether regions of Canada where they do Annie with all boys. And she said when one of these auditions come up, you know, we'll go and you could play Annie. None of that existed. That was completely false."

Watch the full segment below!

Rufus Wainwright has released seven studio albums to date with, three DVDs, and three live albums, including the fantastic Grammy nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall.

Musically Rufus has collaborated with artists including Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Robert Wilson, David Byrne, Boy George, Joni Mitchell, Pet Shop Boys, Heart, Robbie Williams, Jessye Norman, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Sting, and producer Mark Ronson, among many others.

Rufus has made a name for himself in the classical music world. His much acclaimed first opera, titled Prima Donna, premiered at the Manchester International Festival in July 2009 and was performed in London, New York, Paris, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong among others. Rufus' second opera based on the on the story of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and Antinous premiered in October 2018 at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto and won a Dora Award for Outstanding New Opera.

Rufus has also distinguished himself by playing original orchestrated pop songs, his orchestral settings of 5 Shakespeare Sonnets and pieces from an extensive classical repertoire with orchestras around the world such as the Chicago Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Residentie Orchestra, Orchestre National de lIle de France, the orchestra of the Teatro Real.

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