Loudon Wainwright III ( born September 5 , 1946 , Chapel Hill , North Carolina ) is an American singer . He is the father of singers Rufus Wainwright , Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche , and the former husband of Kate McGarrigle . Wainwright was born in Chapel Hill , North Carolina , the son of Martha Taylor , a yoga teacher , and Loudon Wainwright , Jr. , a columnist and editor for Life magazine .