'Want One' & 'Want Two'

Rufus Wainwright was the first musical artist to make me say, "Man, he's gay."

It was in a review for one of his albums (it had to by his eponymous debut because it came out in 1998 and I was still in high school) and it expressly stated that Wainwright was publicly gay. I immediately sort of categorized him as a gay artist, something I hadn't necessarily done for Elton John or Freddie Mercury. Mostly because most review of Sheer Heart Attack or Caribou didn't talk about their sexual orientation as much as they did about the songs.

I don't know if Wainwright would care that a dumb hick from East Texas thought of him as a "gay artist." He'd been out of the closet since he was 14 years old. He was apparently very open with who he wanted to be intimate with.

Furthermore, if Wainwright sought to dodge the "gay" label, he's doing a pretty poor job of it. Releasing an album of Judy Garland covers does not keep you low key for very long.

Wainwright is a very successful guy. He's released numerous albums, written and opera and worked in the movies. Still, it's a man that depends on the gay community to buy his albums. By all accounts, it's a very loyal group.