Loudon Wainwright III began 2025 with the January release of the new album “Loudon Live in London” which was recorded during a 3-night residency at Nell’s Jazz and Blues club in 2024. Then in February, he was a special guest on the UK’s prestigious “Transatlantic Sessions” tour – the highly acclaimed concert series which for the last 30 years has explored and celebrated the rich musical traditions that connect Scotland, Ireland and the U.S.
Born in Chapel Hill, N.C. in 1946, Loudon Wainwright III came to fame when “Dead Skunk” became a Top 20 hit in 1972. He had studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon University but dropped out to partake in the Summer of Love in San Francisco and wrote his first song in 1968. Loudon was signed to Atlantic Records by Nesuhi Ertegun, and after that was lured by Clive Davis to Columbia Records, which released “Dead Skunk.” His songs have since been recorded by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, his son Rufus Wainwright, and Mose Allison among others.
An accomplished actor, he has appeared in films directed by Martin Scorsese, Hal Ashby, Christopher Guest, Tim Burton, Cameron Crowe, and Judd Apatow. Wainwright has also starred on TV in “M.A.S.H.” and “Undeclared”, and on Broadway in “Pump Boys and Dinettes”.
