Loudon Wainwright III

The father of two popular contemporary artists, Rufus Wainwright and sister, Martha, Loudon Wainwright III has made his mark as a beloved folk humorist. Usually accompanied by only his own acoustic guitar, banjo or a piano, Loudon Wainwright emerged in the early 1970s with a series of albums issued on Atlantic Records.

In 1972, he moved to Columbia Records; they encouraged him to try and embrace a more radio friendly style of folk-rock. The result was the novelty hit, "Dead Skunk (In the Middle of the Road)," which was a Top 10 success and continues to show up today on many oldie radio playlists.

Though he tried, Wainwright would never equal that commercial success again. By 1976, he moved to the indie folk label, Rounder Records, which embraced his quirky, humor-filled songs. Wainwright spent most of the '80s and '90s releasing studio and live albums and continuing to perform to an enthusiastic cult following. He recently lived in London, where he made two LPs co-produced by British folk icon, Richard Thompson.