Musician Rufus Wainwright (whose new album, Release the Stars, hits stores on May 15th) is of a rare breed – or, rather, several rare breeds. He's music royalty, being the child of folk singers Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle and the brother of rising star Martha Wainwright. He's a pop star who writes opera and whose recreation of a famed Judy Garland concert has sold out shows at Carnegie Hall, as well as in Paris and London. And perhaps most notably, he's a gay musician who is utterly frank about his sexuality, his troubled past, and his opinions. And yes, people still buy his records.

We recently had the opportunity to take a fly-on-the-wall look at what an in-demand artist goes through on the eve of a highly-anticipated album launch. Wainwright was whisked through the Logo's public relations assembly line so quickly that his tousled head was nearly spinning, but we got the chance to snap a few candid pictures, pick up a few details as to what he's got on his plate, and put a few of our own reader-submitted questions to him.

Many celebrities wouldn't hold up to – let alone stand for – an unfiltered look at the ins and outs of their professional and private lives. But Wainwright has been an uncommonly candid figure since the beginning, speaking publicly about both family struggles (his parents' divorce; his issues with his father) and his battles with drug addiction, both of which also became catalysts in his songwriting.

In any publicity event, first comes the pictures. Decked out in a fashionably disheveled scarf/clogs/jeans ensemble, Wainwright was thrown under hot lights while the cameras clicked. After the shoot, came a TV interview on Logo's NewNowNext music show which he executed with aplomb. He discussed the opera he is composing for the Met (it's called Prima Donna), Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour (which he's thrilled about, considering that when he was eight he used to pretend that he was co-performer Debbie Harry), and his new album, Release the Stars. The album was conceived as a simple record, but became something hulking and Germanic after he arrived in Berlin to record.

After speaking on a variety of topics, Wainwright did a sitting where he taped a half dozen “I'm Rufus Wainwright and you're watching Logo” promos seen during commercial breaks. Some of the sentences that he had to tackle were fairly elaborate, and there were 10 people in the room hanging on his every word, so it was quite entertaining. (Watching him enunciate “Click List” as though it were going to get him in trouble was particularly fun). He pulled off a dozen “throws” like a pro (and a few not so much), and then was whisked back to the couch for print interviews with NewNowNext and AfterElton.

John Polly at NewNowNext chatted up Wainwright on his music, his tours, and the directions in which his music, generally steeped in unrequited longing, is going now that he has a boyfriend. Wainwright assures, “I'll always be yearning. There is definitely a kind of unsatisfied, troubled, wrecked homosexual man in me – and in the best sense of the word. I don't think that there's any quick way to kind of remove the legacy that we've inherited anytime soon. I think that you can work towards it positively and try to expand your horizons, but … I'm very much an old school queen, which is fine.”

When we got our time to chat with Wainwright, he had already been through 83 minutes of hard grilling so it was a miracle that he could still work his jaw, much less tackle the topics that we were tossing at him. But he had some great insights to share about being an out artist in what is ultimately a commercial industry.

And be assured, Wainwright is as out-loud and out-proud as they come. He's performed essentially as Judy Garland (by recreating one of her famous live shows), he's appeared on albums by drag act Kiki and Herb and transgendered friend Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), and he has never hidden his sexuality from his fans or the public. But we all know that many musicians are not as forthcoming about their sexuality, despite the fact that they may use their “gay cachet” to court a gay audience.

When asked about performers like Mika, who seem to “straddle the closet” without speaking openly about their sexuality, Wainwright answers, “I respect what other people want to do. And like I've said before, I feel that if I had been more “mysterious” about my own sexuality and played it a little more ambiguous, I probably would have sold more records and had more supporters, and sometimes I do bemoan the fact that I didn't go that route.”

Wainwright is quick to point out that his decision to speak openly about his sexuality wasn't based on any ideological stance. He simply didn't know how to lie about it. He continues, “I don't think it's the most heroic stance. It's not that interesting to talk about.“ In fact, he seems to appreciate that there is a certain artistry behind being able to walk the public tightrope between gay-seemingness and gay: “If they put as much energy behind that and do that artfully and straddle all these different kinds of universes, then more power to them. I just wasn't able to do it. I just felt totally uneasy.”