Rufus Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York, to folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, who divorced while he was a child.He began to play the piano at age six, and by age 13 he was touring with his sister Martha, mother Kate, and aunt Anna as the "McGarrigle Sisters and Family." His song "I'm A-Runnin'", which he performed in the movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, in which he also played a minor character, earned him a nomination for the 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song at the age of 14. He was also nominated for the 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year..He lived in Montreal with his mother for most of his childhood and briefly attended McGill University, where he studied both classical and modern piano. Some of his songs feature his mastery of French. Wainwright still maintains a residence in Canada.After becoming a fixture on the Montreal club circuit playing Cafe Sarajevo every week, Wainwright cut a series of demo tapes, which were produced by Pierre Marchand (who also produced "Poses"). The tapes found themselves in the hands of DreamWorks executive Lenny Waronker, and the label signed him. Rufus moved to New York City in the spring of 1996 and began playing at the club Fez to build an audience. After playing there for a while, he moved to Los Angeles in the fall of '96 to record his first album with producer Jon Brion. He released the self-titled Rufus Wainwright album in the spring of 1998; the record received much critical acclaim, and was recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best albums of the year. He was also named by Rolling Stone magazine "Best New Artist" of the year. Wainwright toured with Sean Lennon in the summer of 1998, and later that year began his first headlining tour. In December 1998, he appeared in a Gap commercial singing "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" The promotion brought much more attention to his career and increased his album sales dramatically. On March 1, 1999 in Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell's, Rufus started a headlining tour that took him til mid May. By summer 1999 he had taken some time off to live and put music on the back burner. He lived in the Chelsea Hotel in NYC for six months, during which he wrote most of his sophomore album. On June 5, 2001, Poses, Wainwright's second album, was released, bringing a comparable amount of critical acclaim as his debut, though Wainwright was less than pleased with the record's sales.From 2001 to 2004, he toured with Tori Amos, Sting, Ben Folds, and Guster, as well as headlining the 2001 and 2002 tour in support of "Poses." He often performs with his sister Martha Wainwright (now herself an emerging artist) on backup vocals. Despite a growing cult following and critical acclaim, Wainwright has experienced only marginal commercial success in the United States.