Gramercy Park Hotel Presents The Rose Bar Sessions
by Alejo Tenutta
We told you in the latest print edition of Haute Living New York that this juicy tidbit was on the way, and now we are here to deliver the news: Ian Schrager’s Gramercy Park Hotel presents the Rose Bar Sessions, a mini-concert highlighting iconic musicians and singers performing for exclusive audiences.
The latest performance included the always classy and cool Canadian, Rufus Wainwright. The man who Elton John refers to as “the greatest songwriter on the planet,” belted out tunes from his latest album, “All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu,” which comes out April 20 of this year.
Wainwright, known for blending various genres of music, gave the star-studded audience an intimate preview of his newest songs. The celebrity-filled room included:
- Drew Barrymore
- Scarlett Johansson
- Lucy Liu
- Susan Sarandon
- Michael Kors
- Eva Amurri
- Lou Reed
- Christian Siriano

Alan Cumming, Christian Siriano
With a casual yet chic décor, the Gramercy Park Hotel delivered once again on a perfect evening of entertainment. Dim lighting and dark rich colors were the backdrop, where past performers such as Dave Navarro, Axl Rose, and Slash thrilled listeners with unique performances that revealed another side to each musician. Artists of this magnitude are surely difficult to book for this type of setting, demonstrating the ability of Shrager and “King of the Night” Nur Khan as moguls in their industries.
Fingers bounced from key to key, lips grazed the microphone, and notes jumped out of speakers as Wainwright entertained audience members with inspired renditions of his music. The Rose Bar Sessions will continue its series of exclusive performances by elite artists and our beloved readers will be sure to catch one of these incredible shows.

Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Rufus Wainwright
Check out the Haute Living events page for more photos from the evening.
Black and white photography courtesy of Aaron Stern. Other photos from StarTraks.
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