Rufus Wainwright Releases 25th Anniversary Reissue Of Debut Album With Previously Unreleased Outtakes

In March, Rufus Wainwright announced a new covers album, Folkocracy, which is coming in June. Today, however, Wainwright is surprise-launching an anniversary celebration of his self-titled debut, which came out 25 years ago today (May 19) with an expanded, digital-only anniversary edition, available to stream now.

Featuring the album’s original 12 tracks remastered from the original tapes, Rufus Wainwright – 25th Anniversary Edition also has three never-before-released songs from the album sessions, plus tracks previously only available on his 2011 13-disc box set, House Of Rufus. Likewise, Wainwright has recreated his original album art with a new portrait of the singer at 50.

“Obviously when you turn 50, you are not only looking forward but also back, and it comes in handy that my first album Rufus Wainwright came out exactly half a lifetime ago,” Wainwright says in a statement. “In Broadway, there is a secret rule that you have to open with a bang and finish with an even bigger bang. Hopefully in 50 years, I will have proven that I did end with an even bigger bang but I think that I did open pretty strong with my first album. So excited also to bring some new material from those sessions to my fans and have all the tracks remastered.”

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Foolish Love” (2023 Remaster)
02 “Danny Boy” (2023 Remaster)
03 “April Fools” (2023 Remaster)
04 “In My Arms” (2023 Remaster)
05 “Millbrook” (2023 Remaster)
06 “Baby” (2023 Remaster)
07 “Beauty Mark” (2023 Remaster)
08 “Barcelona” (2023 Remaster)
09 “Matinee Idol” (2023 Remaster)
10 “Damned Ladies” (2023 Remaster)
11 “Sally Ann” (2023 Remaster)
12 “Imaginary Love” (2023 Remaster)
13 “Hankering” (2023 Remaster)
14 “Saint James Infirmary” (2023 Remaster)
15 “More Wine” (Session Outtake)
16 “Fame Into Love Into Death” (2023 Remaster)
17 “One More Chance” (2023 Remaster)
18 “A Bit Of You” (2023 Remaster)
19 “Dreams And Daydreams” (2023 Remaster)
20 “Miss Otis Regrets” (2023 Remaster)
21 “So Fine” (Session Outtake)
22 “Come” (Session Outtake)

Rufus Wainwright – 25th Anniversary Edition is out now via Geffen/UMe.