Peggy Lee: "Sans Souci"
The jazz-pop legend's 1952 single bears the same name as a new Wainwright track. "It's kind of amazing," he says.

Richard Wagner Parsifal [Listen]
The German composer is "turning into one of my favorites," says Wainwright, who is writing his first opera.

Kate and Anna McGarrigle Kate & Anna McGarrigle [Listen]
Wainwright says his mother Kate's first record is "one of the most perfect albums - and it's not because she's my mother."