AS HE MARKS 25 years since the release of his debut album, Rufus Wainwright muses: “I’ve learned to take advantage of my failings. I tend to be pretty, well, not lackadaisical but I’m very instinctual. I don’t spend all my time studying and practising. I let my heart take me where it wants to go and I always like to maintain a certain level of ignorance.”
He used to think that approach might be a negative character trait. “But over the years I’ve realised it’s kind of an asset. I’ve maintained a sense of discovery whenever I’m doing anything new or interesting. It’s always very dangerous and exciting for me, as opposed to something I’ve fully mastered.”
The man whose albums include 2020’s has always marched to the beat of his own