Rufus Wainwright Quotes & Sayings (Page 6)

“There is this church that I go to a lot in New York. I'm not religious but I love lighting candles and stuff. I find it useful.”

“There's prejudice everywhere. I don't think the music industry is as bad as the movie industry. But I have taken a few hits over the years for my sexuality, and for being honest about my life. In the end, it's the music that rules the roost.”

“I find so many songwriters today are missing an element... either the production is amazing but the songs aren't, or it's the other way around.”

“I have managed to eke out a good and substantial existence. I'm not shoveling gold bricks or anything, but I do very, very well.”

“I like to sing to Verdi, I like singing to Sibelius, and Mahler maybe.”

“That will to love is very powerful. But it doesn't always win.”

“I definitely try to broaden the scope of music. I don't know if it's pop or classical or what, but I'm religiously challenging myself all the time, for better or for worse.”

“I'm a big fan of the Pre-Raphaelites. Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, and I realised recently that my music is Pre-Raphaelite in a certain way, in that it reinvents an older era and romanticises it, puts it in this gilded frame.”

“You know the question: 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall?' Answer: 'Practise?' Well, in my case, I got there by not practising. I didn't finish my music degree. And when I got into the pop world, I decided not to conform because I figured that the point of being an artist was that you shouldn't be like anyone else.”

“For better or worse, I've always been curious musically. Whether it's opera or Judy Garland or pop, I've deliberately sought those things out. I've never wanted to do the same things over and over. Some think I've accomplished what I set out to do, and others consider me a dilettante.”