Rufus Wainwright Pays Tribute to His Late Mother, Kate McGarrigle

Rufus Wainwright has spoken out in tribute to his mother, Canadian folk artist Kate McGarrigle, who lost her battle with the rare form of cancer known as clear-cell sarcoma on Monday night. Calling her his "sweet and valiant explorer," Wainwright paid a heartfelt homage to the woman who gave him life.

"When inevitably I read today in the papers that my mother lost her battle with cancer last night, I am filled with an immense desire to add that this battle, though lost, was tremendously fruitful during these last three-and-a-half years of her life," Wainwright wrote in an internet post on Tuesday. "She witnessed her daughter's marriage, the creation of my first opera, the birth of her first grandchild Arcangelo and gave the greatest performance of her life to a packed crowd at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Not to mention traveling to some of the world's most incredible places with both my sister, her husband Brad, my boyfriend Jorn and myself."

"Yes, it was all too brief," Rufus continued. "But as I was saying to her sister Anna last night while sitting by her body after the struggle had ceased, there is never enough time and she, my amazing mother with whom everyone fell in love, went out there and bloody did it. I will miss you mother, my sweet and valiant explorer, lebwohl and adio. X"