Raised by his mother in Montreal young Rufus began receiving award nominations at age 14.

Since then besides recording a number of his own albums Rufus ahs written songs for and/or appeared on Shrek, Brokeback Mountain, Bloom. Meet the Robinsons, History Boys, The Myth of Fingerprints, and Big Daddy. Rufus also recorded the only French song "Complainte de la Butte" in the movie Moulin Rouge. A big opera fan Rufus has been commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera to create an original work.

Wainwright's latest album "Release the Stars" is a work that goes far beyond the folk singing talents of his father Loudon. Dedicated to his mother, Rufus originally intended for the album to e a stripped down bare bones affair. Recorded in Berlin, "Release the Stars" is a study in polyphonic composition similar to the works made popular by classical music composers of the twentieth century. Among the artists that appear on "Release the Stars" are sister Martha and Neil Tennent of The Pet Shop boys. Sian Phillips of "I, Claudius" fame also contributes a spoken word piece to the album on "Between My Legs" which also contains a sampling from Andre Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera"

Wainwright said that he composed the album's first single "Going to a Town" in about five minutes while waiting for a dinner guest to arrive.