| After high school Wainwright briefly attended McGill University in Montreal, studying piano and composition, but left to write music and perform in clubs in Quebec. He made a demo tape of his songs, which his father gave to producers at the fledgling Dreamworks Records company. Impressed, they quickly signed Wainwright to a contract. Two years in the making, his self-titled first album came out in 1998 and was an immediate success. His sophisticated tunes were compared to the work of Harry Nilsson and George Gershwin. Rolling Stone magazine named Wainwright the best new artist of the year. As the album was set for release, some advisers at the record company suggested excising references to Wainwright's sexual orientation from the press kit, but Wainwright refused. His candor earned him a special place in the hearts of gay fans. Wainwright's second album, Poses (2001), showed him maturing as a musician and was well received by both critics and his fans, among whom are many teen-age girls who enjoy his romantic love songs, as well as gay men, who are attracted to his boyish good looks and who flock to his concerts. In the same year that Poses appeared, Wainwright contributed songs to the soundtracks of three films, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, Jessie Nelson's I Am Sam, and Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jensen, and Scott Marshall's Shrek. While Wainwright's career was flourishing in the new millennium, his personal life was troubled. He became addicted to alcohol and drugs, including methamphetamines. In addition, he was depressed. Without a steady love in his life, he took to meeting men over the internet and engaging in loveless affairs. more |