Friday, December 19, 2008

Hate the singer, love the songs...

I used to be a huge fan of gay crooner Rufus Wainwright. I couldn't get enough of his sweet, melancholy melodies.

But when he totally trashed my city of Toronto (quite unfairly and unnecessarily), my love suddenly slipped away. I've barely listened to any of his music for months. (Yes I do sometimes let politics get in the way of my artistic appreciation). I guess he figured he could write off the lonely Toronto market without much consequence and perhaps he was right.

Now this little controversy with Rufus once again spouting off at the mouth has erupted - he dissed those who actually like the idea of getting married, and compared gay marriage to marrying one's dog.

The backlash was severe (and obviously widespread) that the opera-loving queen felt compelled to write a less-than-convincing mea culpa on his website yesterday. Unlike my friend Scott, I'm not so forgiving. Rufus is 35 going on 15, as far as I can tell. Grow some brains, Rufus, before spouting off and offending more of your select fan base.

In the mean time, I'll continue to try to forget the man behind the voice (and perhaps even ignore his next foot-in-mouth incident) and just focus on the great music.

No comments: