Watch Rufus Wainwright sing Tom Bombadil’s song for the second season of The Rings of Power.
Rufus Wainwright, known for lending his voice to timeless works from legends like Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, has now ventured into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. For the first time, the singer-songwriter, 51, has embraced the epic universe of The Lord of the Rings, contributing his vocal talents to “Old Tom Bombadil,” a new song featured in Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The song, composed by Bear McCreary, gives life to one of Tolkien’s most enigmatic characters. Wainwright was initially drawn to the project due to his discerning nature in choosing songs. “I’m very, very choosy about what I choose to sing, and I was really happy with what Bear offered,” he tells Rolling Stone.
“Old Tom Bombadil” is a ballad inspired by the character who originally appeared in Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring but was omitted from Peter Jackson’s 2001 film adaptation. In The Rings of Power, Bombadil is portrayed by Rory Kinnear, capturing the intrigue of a figure who remains unconcerned with the power of the ring. Wainwright sings, “Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow/Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow…,” bringing Tolkien’s words to life.
Wainwright read The Lord of the Rings as a teenager but admits he has always been more of a Narnia fan. “I enjoy all great sagas,” he says, drawing parallels to his love for opera and complex literary works like Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past. For Wainwright, grand narratives offer an escape from “this frightening planet.”
McCreary and Wainwright have become friends since Wainwright moved back to Los Angeles. When McCreary approached him to sing about Tom Bombadil, Wainwright agreed immediately. “Bear briefed me on how this character that fans of the books are so enamored of is finally making his appearance, and he thought of my voice as an incarnation of that,” Wainwright shares. “I’m very flattered. I understand it, too, in a way — because I am somewhat mysterious.”
“Old Tom Bombadil” joins the long tradition of music inspired by The Lord of the Rings, which includes classic rock tracks by Led Zeppelin. Wainwright, who recently saw Robert Plant at one of his Folkocracy shows, acknowledges this connection: “He’s a big fan of my dad’s.”
Wainwright’s recent foray into folk music with his Grammy-nominated album Folkocracy complements the Tom Bombadil song. He views folk singing as an art that resonates with ancestral purity. “It’s something that you have to be able to sing a capella, surrounded with friends and family around a fire,” he explains.
Listen to the track here: https://amzn.to/4dc9IYJ
As Folkocracy takes its final bow with a performance at Carnegie Hall on November 29, Wainwright is already planning his next project. He’s preparing for the U.S. premiere of his Dream Requiem in Los Angeles on May 4, 2025. Featuring poetry by Byron and originally narrated by Meryl Streep in Paris, Wainwright quips, “I think I may have unfortunately written my masterpiece.”