Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright [ tickets ] will head out this month on a world tour to support his forthcoming album, "Release the Stars," which is due May 15.

Wainwright will launch the outing with a two-night stand April 22-23 in Seattle. He'll finish out the month with a few shows in California, including the Coachella festival, and then head overseas in May for gigs in France and the UK, including a four-night run at London's Old Vic Theatre.

June will find the performer back in North America. Though the dates are not yet on his schedule, Wainwright's website says he'll begin a four-show residency June 5 at New York City's Gramercy Theater. Then he'll move on to Canada and more cities in the Eastern US, where he'll join the True Colors Tour with Debbie Harry, Cyndi Lauper, and Erasure. More UK dates follow.

In September, Wainwright will continue his string of tributes to Judy Garland, recreating her legendary Hollywood Bowl performance exactly 46 years after it took place.

Wainwright's North American tour itinerary is listed below. His European dates can be found at his website.

"Release the Stars," Wainwright's fifth studio set, follows 2004's "Want To." It is the singer's first self-produced album, and is executive produced by Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant. The record features contributions from Richard Thompson, violinist/guitarist/singer Joan Wasser and veteran British actress Sian Phillips, to name a few.

When Wainwright was preparing to record "Release the Stars," he envisioned it as a "kind of pared down, bare bones affair," he said in a statement. But he ended up with "this huge gilded album," complete with the London Session Orchestra on several tracks.

"The record didn't end up being a bare bones affair, but it was important that I had that image in mind," Wainwright said. "Even though I have some of the biggest moments of my career on this record, there are some of the most intimate moments too.

"With my songwriting in general, I always try to make sure that the songs stand on their own," he added. "They could be done with an orchestra, or with a kazoo for that matter."

In addition to recording his own album, Wainwright has been busy composing music for choreographer Stephen Petronio's new work, "Bloom"; guest-starring on the Pet Shop Boys' British live disc, "Concrete"; cutting tracks for the films "Meet the Robinsons" and "History Boys"; and helping to organize the Wainwright Family and Friends Christmas Concert in New York City, among other things.

Wainwright's musical family includes his parents--folk icons Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle.