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Rufus Wainwright and Lorca Cohen announce birth of Viva Katherine | Rufus Wainwright

This article is more than 12 years old

Rufus Wainwright and Lorca Cohen announce birth of Viva Katherine

This article is more than 12 years oldGay singer has child with Leonard Cohen's daughter, while partner is 'deputy dad' to baby with three parents

Daughter to a talented opera-composing polymath and a videographer, granddaughter to one of the great singer-songwriters and heir to an influential folk dynasty, she is a little girl with a lot to live up to.

But for now Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen, newborn daughter of Rufus Wainwright and Leonard Cohen's daughter, Lorca Cohen, is simply just "very, very beautiful", according to her doting father.

Wainwright made the surprise announcement that two of the most significant families in Canadian musical history have come together to produce Viva Katherine, born on 2 February. The latest heir to the Canadian musical throne will be raised by both parents and Wainwright's partner, "deputy dad" Jorn Weisbrodt.

On his website the gay singer songwriter and opera composer introduced his daughter to his fans. "Darling daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen was born on February 2 2011 in Los Angeles, California to proud parents Lorca Cohen, Rufus Wainwright and Deputy Dad Jorn Weisbrodt," he wrote. Showing all the signs of early onset parental devotion, he added: "The little angel is evidently healthy, presumably happy and certainly very, very beautiful."

Wainwright's fans are likely to have expectations that Viva Katherine may, in her own time, follow in her father and grandparents' footsteps. She will at least be equipped with an impressive set of musical genes.

Named after Wainwright's mother, the singer Kate McGarrigle, who died in January last year, she is the granddaughter to American songwriter and folk singer Loudon Wainwright III as well as Leonard Cohen. She is the niece of singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright, who gave birth to a boy, Arcangelo, in November 2009.

Wainwright has been keen to emphasise the close-knit relationship between his daughter's three parents, referring to himself as "daddy #1" and noting that all members of the happy trio would play a part in their daughter's upbringing. He wrote: "Daddy #1 would like to offer everyone a digital cigar and welcome the little lady in with a French phrase from his favourite folk song, A La Claire Fontaine, 'Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai.' "

In response to a flurry of articles reporting the birth, Wainwright said Lorca Cohen was not simply a surrogate for his daughter, but her mother in every respect. "In many of the articles announcing the birth of Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen, Lorca Cohen is characterized as "the surrogate," he wrote. "Of course, she is no such thing. "She did not carry the child for someone else."

Wainwright and Weisbrodt follow in the footsteps of Elton John – who Wainwright has said helped him escape drug addiction – and David Furnish, another high-profile gay couple who recently became parents to a boy, after using a surrogate mother in the US. Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born in California on Christmas Day. The identity of his mother remains a secret.

Wainwright's entry into parenthood may not be a surprise to his fans, after he hinted at being broody in previous interviews. He became engaged to his theatre producer boyfriend last year, and spoke to the Observer about his "paternal feelings", adding that he and Weisbrodt were "exploring all options, sort of, at the moment".

He added, mysteriously, "It's very top secret but it's certainly something I'm thinking of."

A clue to how the trio hoped to achieve that goalmay also have lain in the interview, as soon after expressing his desire to have children Wainwright mentioned Lorca, in an anecdote that referenced her father.

"One time I was hanging out with Leonard Cohen and his daughter," Wainwright told Tim Adams. "She was talking about this child she had known as a baby who she hadn't seen for a few years and how he was now grownup, and she said to her dad: 'You know, it's pretty amazing watching how the baby became a person.' Leonard looked at her and replied very drily, as only he could: 'You know, it's pretty much the only amazing thing there is' ".

Wainwright - who began playing the piano at age six, and started touring at 13 with a folk group featuring his sister his mother and aunt Anna - has talked openly about his battles with past drug addiction. As well as thanking Elton John for encouraging him to go to rehab, he has credited his family – particularly his mother and sister and boyfriend – for helping him overcome his drug addictions. "It's a testament to my mother in particular, and to my father and Martha and now my boyfriend, that I can continue to get beyond that," he said.

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Listening to your mother simulate an orgasm in a song and appearing with your father in a video for another called Lemon Incest may sound like a recipe for a Freudian maelstrom, yet Charlotte Gainsbourg, offspring of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, has followed her own, surprisingly sane, creative path. After starring in the films The Science of Sleep, 21 Grams and Antichrist, she saw her third album, IRM, warmly received by critics.

The marriage of Johnny Cash and June Carter in 1968 brought together two of the best-loved names in American country music. Both Cash and Carter produced musical children from their first marriages – Rosanne Cash and Carlene Carter, respectively – and their son John Carter Cash has followed in his parents' footsteps.

The ultimate merging of musical dynasties came with the ill-fated union of King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and daughter of the King of Rock'n'Roll, Lisa-Marie Presley. The pair married in 1994 and divorced in early 1996, citing "irreconcilable differences", and did not have any children.

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