Hallelujah! Rufus Wainwright has baby with Leonard Cohen's daughter

Rufus Wainwright has had a baby with Leonard Cohen's daughter. Wainwright made the surprise announcement on Friday, revealing that Lorca Cohen gave birth to a girl on 2 February. Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen will reportedly be brought up by both of her parents, as well as Wainwright's partner, "deputy dad" Jorn Weisbrodt.

Canadian musical royalty may never have been more tightly knit. "Darling daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen was born on 2 February 2011 in Los Angeles, California," Wainwright revealed on his website, naming he, Cohen and Weisbrodt as "proud parents". "The little angel is evidently healthy, presumably happy and certainly very, very beautiful. Daddy #1 would like to offer everyone a digital cigar and welcome the little lady in with a French phrase from his favorite folk song, À La Claire Fontaine: 'Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai.'"

Almost exactly a year ago, Wainwright spoke to the Guardian about his "paternal feelings", saying he and Weisbrodt were "exploring all options, sort of, at the moment". But he immediately brought up Lorca, and an anecdote concerning 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.'"

Just 12 months later, Wainwright – who is gay – has become a father. Viva Katherine is clearly named after Wainwright's mother, the folk singer Kate McGarrigle, who died in January 2010. Rufus's sister, the singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright, had her first child in London at the end of 2009.