Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright’s songs are as hilarious as they are poignant. Since his 1969 debut, he has chronicled a life in progress, the subject matter evolving along with him from album to album, show to show, year to year. In his lyrics (and in a recent best-selling memoir) his source material is himself and the family history and fractured relationships that have informed him: the alcoholism, infidelities and competitiveness; the successes, joys and love. Wainwright sings about being a son, a parent, a husband, a brother, and a grandfather, and sometimes recites onstage, from memory, excerpts from his famous father’s Life Magazine columns. He has released dozens of albums, including the Grammy-nominated I'm Alright (1985) and the Grammy-winning High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project (2009), and has appeared with regularity in films (Elizabethtown, Knocked Up) and on television (Ally McBeal, Parks & Recreation). He is the ex-husband of late folk artist Kate McGarrigle and the father of musicians (and formidable singer/songwriters in their own right) Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, and Lucy Wainwright Roche.