The singer-songwriter honored the late music icon at a concert on Thursday night.
The news of legendary musician Leonard Cohen's death on Thursday continues to rock the music industry, with fellow artists paying homage to the late Canadian singer.
RELATED: Music Icon Leonard Cohen Dies at 82
Singer-songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright honored the iconic "Hallelujah" crooner with an emotional tribute at his Mesa, Arizona concert on Thursday night. The 1984 gospel-inspired track has been covered by various artists over the years including Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Jeff Buckley and, most famously, Wainwright himself.
"I promised a couple of months ago that I wouldn't sing this song if Trump won the election," Wainwright prefaced. "And I was actually planning on not singing it tonight, but obviously, that has been trumped."
Wainwright, who co-parents a child with Cohen's daughter, Lorca, expressed his deepest condolences in an emotional statement posted to Twitter.
"I had very few deeply personal experiences with Leonard, enough to count on one and a half hands," he wrote. “Like for most of us, for me he dwelled in a higher strata inhabited by some living but mostly passed icons who seemed to have this direct line to the galaxy, whilst at the same time knowing exactly when to take out the trash. Farewell Leonard, we need you now up there as much as we do down here."
Other celebrities who have recently paid tribute to the music legend include Lena Dunham, who broke her post-election silence on social media to acknowledge Cohen's death and posted the lyrics to his song, "Tonight Will Be Fine," with the caption, "Leonard Cohen #onlyoneprayer."
RELATED: Lena Dunham Breaks Her Post-Election Silence to Share an Inspirational Leonard Cohen Lyric
Watch the clip below for more emotional reactions to this year's election.