Rufus Wainwright

 2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has announced Folkocracy, a star-studded album of folk music reinventions that sees joined by a collection of friends, family members, and other special guest artists that includes Brandi Carlile, John Legend, David Byrne, Sheryl Crow, Nicole Scherzinger, Chaka Khan, Andrew Bird, ANOHNI, Susanna Hoffs, Van Dyke Parks, Madison Cunningham, and many more. Folkocracy arrives Friday, June 2nd via BMG in a range of formats.  

Produced by longtime collaborator Mitchell Froom (Paul McCartney, Crowded House), Folkocracy is heralded by the release of “Down in the Willow Garden” (Feat. Brandi Carlile.) 

 “Singing with Rufus feels like watching birds swirl around together instinctively in flight,” says Carlile. It’s anticipated but somehow as natural as can be. His voice is so special to me that I hear it sometimes when he’s not even singing with me. I loved every second of flying around in this music with him. 

Regarding the song with Carlile, Wainwright says, “Brandi I see a lot, often with Joni Mitchell. I chose us a cheery little number – not! The song is so blatantly brutal and masochistic that I had to sing it with a woman. Sadly, we still live in a violent world. The amazing thing about so many folk songs is that content wise, they sound very contemporary. Think of the gun crime in the States right now.” 

Wainwright adds, "This album is almost like a recorded birthday party and birthday present to myself. I just invited all the singers that I greatly admire and always wanted to sing with." 

Also recently announced: Rufus Wainwright will perform a special collaboration with Miley Cyrus for an event called “Miley Cyrus ‒ Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions).” It will premiere Friday, March 10, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST on Disney+. The Backyard Sessions are a long-running series from Cyrus. The latest installment celebrates the release of Cyrus’ eighth studio album Endless Summer Vacation. 

In addition, this August will see Wainwright embark on a worldwide Folkocracy Tour while also marking both the 25th anniversary of his landmark debut album, 1998’s Rufus Wainwright, and the 20th anniversary of 2003’s award-winning Want One (and its 2004 companion, Want Two) with a series of orchestral shows featuring lush symphonic arrangements by Sally Herbert (Woodkid, Florence + the Machine) and Max Moston (Antony and the Johnsons). A full slate of North American, EU, and UK dates will be announced soon. For complete details and remaining ticket availability, please visit here. 

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