For over five decades, Loudon Wainwright III has carved out a singular place in modern songwriting, whose work can be sharply funny, heart-wrenching and always deeply personal.
Now, Loudon Wainwright III returns to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in almost 20 years, bringing with him one of the most distinctive catalogues in contemporary folk & blues music.
Originally signed to Atlantic Records by Nesuhi Ertegun, Wainwright was later recruited by Clive Davis to Columbia Records, where he released his unexpected Top 20 hit "Dead Skunk" in 1972. Since then, he has issued more than thirty albums, including the Grammy‑winning High Wide & Handsome (2009). His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Mose Allison, Bonnie Raitt, and his son Rufus Wainwright, while his acting credits span film and television, from MASH to collaborations with Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh.
Across his career, Wainwright has produced a string of enduring classics, including "The Swimming Song," "Dead Skunk," "Daughter," "Motel Blues," "Down Drinking at the Bar," and "Lullaby."
On stage, he remains a force: sharp‑witted, fearless, and emotionally unfiltered. A Loudon Wainwright III performance is part concert, part confession, part comedy set — an artist who is a master storyteller delivering his songs with the same honesty, humour, and hard‑won wisdom that have defined his remarkable life in music. Australia and New Zealand is about to witness that, first-hand.