Rufus Wainwright teams up with John Legend on rendition of Peggy Seeger's 'Heading For Home'
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT SHARES
'HEADING FOR HOME (FEAT. JOHN LEGEND)'
JOYOUS RENDITION OF PEGGY SEEGER FOLK STANDARD
JOINED BY OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO – WATCH
EAGERLY AWAITED NEW ALBUM, FOLKOCRACY,
SEES 2X GRAMMY® AWARD-NOMINATED ARTIST REINVENTING FOLK CLASSICS
ALONGSIDE SPECIAL GUESTS INCLUDING BRANDI CARLILE, DAVID BYRNE,
SHERYL CROW, CHAKA KHAN, ANDREW BIRD, ANOHNI,
SUSANNA HOFFS, VAN DYKE PARKS, AND MANY MORE
Announced To Play Cheltenham Jazz Festival & Cambridge Folk Festival This Summer
FOLKOCRACY ARRIVES VIA BMG ON FRIDAY, JUNE 2
Photo Credits: Miranda Penn Turin
2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has shared his jubilant new single, 'Heading For Home (Feat. John Legend),' available now at all DSPs and streaming services.
An official music video premieres today at YouTube HERE. ‘Heading For Home’ heralds Wainwright’s eagerly awaited new album, Folkocracy, a star-studded collection of folk music reinventions arriving Friday, June 2 via BMG in a range of formats including digital download, CD, and vinyl. Pre-orders are available now HERE.
“John Legend has arguably one of the most beautiful voices in the world and listening to him singing is a pure joy,” says Rufus Wainwright. “I am now one of the few who can say that it can get even better, and that is when you sing with him. Thank you for coming on this folk journey with me and singing Peggy Seeger’s ‘Heading For Home’ with me. It was an effortless flight, an elegant glide, a fulfilling soar, not just a mere walk home.”
"I've been a fan of Rufus for quite some time, and it was a true joy to sing with him on this beautiful song," John Legend said of the track.
LISTEN TO ‘HEADING FOR HOME (FEAT. JOHN LEGEND)’
WATCH OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
PRE-ORDER FOLKOCRACY
Folkocracy sees Wainwright joined by a spectacular lineup of friends, family members, and other special guest artists including Brandi Carlile, John Legend, David Byrne, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, Andrew Bird, ANOHNI, Susanna Hoffs, Van Dyke Parks, Madison Cunningham, and many more. Produced by longtime collaborator Mitchell Froom (Paul McCartney, Crowded House), the album includes the haunting first single, ‘Down in the Willow Garden (Feat. Brandi Carlile),’ available now at all DSPs and streaming services. The timeless track is accompanied by an official music video streaming now at YouTube HERE.
Wainwright – joined by a six-piece band and special guests including Chaka Khan, Van Dyke Parks, Susanna Hoffs, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and Richard Parks – will celebrate Folkocracy with a one-night-only Release Day concert event set for Los Angeles, CA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall on Friday, June 2.
In addition, this August will see Wainwright embark on a worldwide Folkocracy Tour while also marking both the 25th anniversary of his landmark debut album, 1998’s Rufus Wainwright, and the 20th anniversary of 2003’s award-winning Want One (and its 2004 companion, Want Two) with a series of orchestral shows featuring lush symphonic arrangements by Sally Herbert (Woodkid, Florence + the Machine) and Max Moston (Antony and the Johnsons). A full slate of North American, EU, and UK dates will be announced soon. For complete details and remaining ticket availability, please visit rufuswainwright.com/tour.
Folkocracy – which follows Wainwright’s most recent studio album, 2020’s GRAMMY® and Juno Award-nominated Unfollow The Rules – sees the critically acclaimed artist celebrating his upcoming 50th birthday by revisiting his roots, of childhood summers spent at folk festivals and watching his famous family on stage.
Wainwright is joined on his journey into the past by an all-star cast of special guests. The 15 songs featured on Folkocracy include folk standards from around the world along with a unique reframing of Franz Schubert’s “Nacht und Träume” as well as a spellbinding rerecording of his own “Going To A Town,” featuring his longtime friend ANOHNI.
Highlights include the sensual ‘High On A Rocky Ledge (Feat. David Byrne),’ a gorgeous, expertly harmonised take on The Mamas & The Papas’ ‘Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon)’ featuring Sheryl Crow, Susannah Hoffs, and Chris Stills, and the album-closing ‘Wild Mountain Thyme,’ a song Wainwright grew up singing with his sisters, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, both of whom join him on the new rendition along with aunt Anna McGarrigle, cousin Lily Lanken, and close family friend Chaim Tannenbaum, the latter playing Rufus’s late mother Kate McGarrigle’s iconic banjo.
“The older I get, the more I appreciate how valuable my folk knowledge is, to have had it ingrained in me as a child,” Wainwright says. “I’m from a bona fide folkocracy who mixed extensively with other folkocracies such as the Seegers and the Thompsons. I spun off into opera and pop. Now I’m back where it all began.”
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