Over the course of his stellar career to date, Rufus Wainwright has essentially 'worked with them all' but, in a new interview with Hot Press, the Canadian-American songwriter singles out Michael Stipe for his understanding of how to navigate the pop world... and the fact he's a proper charmer.
Interviewing each other several years ago, the frontman for the now-defunct REM claimed that he could write a chart-topping song with Rufus no problem but neither of them would want to do that.
Did Rufus secretly wish they had collaborated?
"Ahhh! Well, I dunno. I would have enjoyed that process with Michael. But Michael is also a bit of a... He's a bit of a flirt, ha! On many levels. My hats are off to him, mainly because I have more hair! But he really is a genius in terms of understanding the actual arteries of popular culture. He can see them. He knows where to put the needle. I'm far more cloudy on the subject."
Lauded to the hilt by the likes of Elton John and Stipe, would Rufus swap the greatest of regard from the most gifted players in the game for 10 times as many teenagers tweeting glowingly about him?
"I don't know..." he muses, before joking: "If we lived in ancient times and I could have a palace and they were all my subservient sex slaves, sure! But I don't think that's the way the world works anymore."
For more with the always entertaining Wainwright, as he talks fatherhood, opera writing, policies and more, pick up the new Hot Press, out now. To purchase your copy of Hot Press 39.18 right now, order online direct from hotpress.com.
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As part of Sligo Live, Rufus Wainwright has a Creative Minds Discussion at The Model, Sligo, on Friday October 23 at 2pm, before headlining Knocknarea Arena that evening.