Rufus Wainwright Is Out To Prove That '50 Isn't The End'

You could say that multi-talented musician Rufus Wainwright is very much a child of the East End.

Though he grew up mainly in Montreal with his mother, folk singer Kate McGarrigle, Wainwright was, in many ways, always very much at home in this part of the world. His father, singer Loudon Wainwright III, has lived on Shelter Island for years and the younger Wainwright spent his youth in the area, regularly biking to East Hampton to be part of the scene there.

As an adult, the East End has continued its role of “shelter” for the singer. Now, on the eve of his 50th birthday, Rufus Wainwright is returning to the place he loves so well, Montauk, and the place he and husband Jörn Weisbrodt call home.

Though they met in Berlin, the couple cemented their relationship in Montauk in the summer of 2005 — in a rented guesthouse on the old Andy Warhol Estate. Like Wainwright, Weisbrodt has a strong connection to the East End too, having served as the director of The Watermill Center. So in 2008, the couple bought a home in Hither Hills and, in 2012, were married in the garden in a ceremony followed by an ocean swim and dinner at the Clam Bar.

“There’s a lot of my saga that took place on the East End — either as a teenager biking 20 miles and pretending I lived in East Hampton instead of Shelter Island, whatever that was about, or my mother coming and visiting and the drama that caused when my parents were not in a good place,” said Wainwright in a recent phone interview. “My husband and I consummated our relationship in Long Island, that’s where we were dating, in Long Island, and where we decided to become a couple, married at Montauk.”

Which is why, as he contemplated his approaching half century milestone birthday, Wainwright could think of no better place to mark the occasion. So on Thursday, July 13, Rufus Wainwright and friends will perform “Fifty Isn’t The End,” a concert at the Montauk Point Lighthouse, to commemorate his first 50 years of life.

“It is technically, both mine and Jörn’s birthday this year. He was 50 in January, and for me it’s on July 22, so the celebration is for both of us,” explained Wainwright. “We both have such a connection to the area, him with The Watermill Center and our relationship. The Wainwrights have been in the Hamptons for almost 100 years, and later we bought the house in Montauk. So arguably for me, it’s my real home. I certainly related to Montreal and spent 20 years in New York City and I love L.A. now, but the East End is my home.”

“For us, it’s very important to get back to that neck of woods,” he added. “We rented our house out for four years during COVID and are now reclaiming the spot.”

When considering exactly where to present his milestone birthday concert, the lighthouse came into focus as the most logical location, for so many physical and metaphorical reasons. So he approached Mia Certic, the director of the Montauk Historical Society, who embraced the idea with great enthusiasm. The concert, which will feature a full line up of special celebrity guests who are donating their services, is not only a birthday celebration, it’s also a benefit for the Montauk Historical Society.

“I think there’s something about the light in Montauk, those big bodies of waters — the bay and the raging ocean and big waves,” said Wainwright. “Then there’s a funny relationship between the old mega wealthy, old money thing and very working class fisherman vibe as well. It’s more Catholic, shall we say.

“We wanted it to be a truly local happening, so that was important.”

Lots of musical friends and family will join Wainwright on stage at the July 13 concert, including his father, Loudon Wainwright III, aunt Sloan Wainwright, and sisters Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche. Also taking part will be guests Jimmy Fallon, Tig Notaro, Laurie Anderson, Joan as Police Woman and a band consisting of David Mansfield, G.E. Smith, Shawn Pelton, Tony Shanahan and Thomas Bartlett.

While Wainwright has been on the road quite a bit this year — he’s currently touring the country with his new album, “Folkocracy,” which was just released in early June — he notes that this Montauk concert will not be that show.

“It’s gonna be completely different,” Wainwright said. “There will be a lot of guests for the birthday show, family and Jimmy Fallon and Tig Notaro and my friend Joan Wasser. I think the subject will be mine and Jörn’s 50th birthday, and it will include a completely unique group of songs that are important to us.

“We’ll have two days of rehearsal, tap into that Wainwright/McGarrigle magic,” he said of performing with his family. “We won’t be overly rehearsed but we’ll have a couple days.”

You could say music is certainly a family affair for this clan. Not only is his father a well-known musician, but Wainwright’s mother, Canadian-born singer/songwriter Kate McGarrigle, who died in 2010, was half of a folk duo with her sister, Anna. Loudon Wainwright and McGarrigle married in 1973 and were divorced by 1977, and in addition to Rufus, also had daughter, Martha, together. Loudon then married singer Suzzy Roche (of the Roche sisters) with whom he had daughter Lucy.

While the family performs together on occasion, as they will for the Montauk show on July 13, Wainwright admits that his relationship, especially with his father, is a complicated one. As a father himself now, to 12-year-old daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen (her mother is photographer Lorca Cohen, daughter of Leonard Cohen), Wainwright has gained a good deal of perspective on parenthood.

“Oddly, the connection to Viva is far more surprising, in the sense that there are things I know and accept about my father that I was angry about for years,” said Wainwright. “I’ve learned how to sort of get what I can from him, when I can, and have the surprise, the twists and turns as well. It’s very specific to me and him.

“I find with my daughter, it’s a great opportunity to get the stuff I was missing — mainly time,” he added. “My dad was from that period when it was common in a divorce situation for the fathers to go off and live their lives and do their things. I didn’t see him a lot.

“I get to spend the time with my child and close that gap,” he said. “It has to do with my daughter and I, not my father and I. He had other fish to fry and we’re very, very different people. But we do admire one another and it’s kinda freaky how we look like each other.”

“My parents’ generation and the whole sensibility, the further away I get from it, the more I cherish it and its existence and appreciate it.”

When asked if Viva is, similarly, following in the family’s musical footsteps (after all, her other grandfather is the legendary Leonard Cohen), Wainwright responded, “Viva loves to sing and so forth. Now, she’s more interested in make-up and stuff, but we temper that as much as we can. She has a beautiful voice and loves to perform.”

In fact, the Montauk concert has been scheduled so that Viva, who’s due to head off to summer camp soon, can be in attendance for her father’s big musical bash.

In terms of his own musical prowess, Wainwright himself has never been afraid to branch out and try new mediums. His opera, “Hadrian” which tells the story of the last day of the Roman emperor who ruled Rome in 100 AD, premiered back in 2018 and he’s recently done some edits on the piece, which was performed last July in Spain at Madrid’s Teatro Real and the Festival Castell de Peralada

“It was a semi-staged version, my husband directed and Robert Mapplethorpe provided images,” said Wainwright. “We did quite a few productions.”

Now that he’s on the cusp of 50, when asked how his approach to music has changed over the course of his career, or where he hopes it takes him next (other than Montauk, that is), Wainwright responded, “I can’t talk specifics, but the one big shift that has occurred is I’ve definitely turned my attention to the Broadway world and West End world and I’m working on several projects strongly rooted in the theater.

“I’d like to make an honest try in that region, mainly because people have been asking for 30 years now,” he said. “I’m working a lot on that. My operatic life is still very healthy, I’m doing operas in Europe and singing well, too. I’m at the height of my powers. I might as well do it all.”

“Rufus & Friends: Fifty Isn’t The End” is Thursday, July 13, at The Montauk Point Lighthouse. Doors open at 5 p.m. for a precelebration with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails before the 7 p.m. performance. General admission tickets are $150 ($300 VIP/$75 children) at murmrr.com. The Montauk Point Lighthouse is located at 2000 Montauk Highway, Montauk. For more information, visit montaukhistoricalsociety.org.