Rufus Wainwright Accepts Grammy Award on Behalf of the Dalai Lama

Global singer-songwriter and Montauk homeowner Rufus Wainwright made a surprise appearance on stage at the 68th annual Grammy awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, where he accepted an award on behalf of the Dalai Lama.

The 90-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader won the Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording category with his 2025 release, Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, featuring Wainwright and other artists.

“It was a privilege to participate in this project,” Wainwright said on his own behalf. “It’s an honor to accept this recognition on behalf of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, whose wisdom is at the heart of this work,” he added.

Wainwright, who is credited on a track entitled “Peace,” went on to read a prepared statement of thanks from the Dalai Lama which began, “The most precious human quality is warm heartedness and caring for one another,” before going on to thank his collaborators.

A three-time Grammy nominee himself, Wainwright spent much of his childhood on Shelter Island, has multi-generational family ties to the East End, and has owned a house in Montauk for many years. The artists’ enclave inspired Wainwright’s 2012 eponymous song, “Montauk.”

“For me, Montauk hits all the bases: the fancy side, the rough side, the big beach, but also the bay. Montauk, in the end, I think of as my place. I tend to never leave,” Wainwright told The East Hampton Star in July.

A spokesperson for Wainwright did not respond to request for comment.