Those of us in the United States hoping to see Rufus Wainwright in 2026 might have their work cut out for them. Wainwright has a slew of dates this year from March through January 2027, yet most, if not, all of them are in Europe. So where is Rufus playing in the States in 2026? Tonight he’s in his NYC performing The Music of Billy Joel to a sold out crowd at Carnegie Hall. The event is a benefit concert and features more than a dozen chart-toppers and Billy Joel’s touring band as the house band. If that doesn’t sound darn near perfect, IDK what does?

See below:
April 14 – City Winery Pittsburgh, Early Show
April 14 – City Winery Pittsburgh, Late Show
April 15 – Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA
April 17 – The Center for Arts @ The Armory – Somerville, MA

And if you’re a fan of the Want album (as this writer sure is), you can catch Want Symphonic with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra on May 22 @ Konserthuset in Stockholm.

After tonight’s NYC gig, Wainwright heads to France where he tours through April 4, and then a stop Vienna on April 5, before the aforementioned four U.S. dates. After the May 22 Stockholm date he heads to Denmark for a one off date.

Those who enjoy Rufus Does Judy can catch that live on June 10 at the esteemed Royal Albert Hall in London. A month later, Rufus heads to Spain and tours there in early July. He heads to Finland on Aug. 18 and plays the Helsinki Festival on Aug. 20.

There are January 2027 dates in The Netherlands but no other U.S. dates yet inked. Perhaps a September-November tour is in the works for the States. But who knows?

Wainwright performs tonight in New York City for a bill titled The Music of Billy Joel. And gosh that sounds too good to be true.

As for musical output? Wainwright who always stays busy has not been idle. Last year he released the covers project I’m a Stranger Here Myself, a Kurt Weill covers project where he collaborated with the Pacific Jazz Orchestra, and the symphonic Dream Requiem, an album of classical fare that is utterly delightful but not exactly commercial.

He explored hypnotic sound in 2024 while collaborating with Asad Mecci for the album An Exploration of Hypnotic Sound. Prior to that he chased down classic folk songs on 2023’s sublime Folkocracy featuring collabs with the likes of John Legend, Madison Cunningham, Susana Hoffs, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Bird, David Byrne, Nicole Scherzinger, Van Dyke Parks and Chaka Khan among others. 2023 also saw the 20th anniversary edition of his self-titled which featured a host of bonus tracks. In 2022, he released Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios (another covers project) and 2021 saw Rufus collaborating with Amsterdam Sinfonietta on a baker’s dozen of some of his biggest hits and more.

But his last album of original music (non classical) was the brilliant Unfollow the Rules in 2021. All this to write: Rufus is due for a new album of originals (and something more commercial). Here’s hoping it happens.