celeb news Orville Peck recreates Dolly Parton's iconic cover for Out Magazine

July 11, 2022

How Cover Star Orville Peck's Coming-Out Story Shaped His Career

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The yeehaw agenda, featuring the Old West aesthetic, has become a trend in pop culture over the past few years. Celebrities like Cardi B and Diplo have brought the hats and the boots to performances, runways, and red carpets all over the world. Lil Nas X strutted in neon pink bondage cowboy at the Grammys, Beyoncé incorporated the look into her Ivy Park collection, and Walker, Texas Ranger was even rebooted on television. And now Peck — the masked, mostly anonymous, award-winning country singer-songwriter — is roping and wrangling new audiences night after night, performing on stages across the U.S. and Canada. He is in fact our modern-day cowboy.

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That air of mystery only added to his intrigue when he released his debut album, Pony, in 2019. It’s been an upward trajectory from there. His song “Dead of Night” appeared in a particularly devastating scene on Euphoria’s second season. Lady Gaga recruited Peck to record a modernized “country road” version of “Born This Way” for the 10th anniversary of her iconic album of the same title. And his sophomore album, Bronco, released earlier this year, is his best work yet, weaving intimate stories of love and heartbreak with folklore-ian candor while boasting the most moving vocals of Peck’s career.

“If you watch the classic old Western, there’s pretty heavy-handed homoeroticism put into it,” Peck points out. “A lot of those Italian directors had some sugar in their tank, if you know what I’m saying.” He’s right: Cowboys have always been a bit…queer. This cowboy is rolling in the hay of icons before him — Dolly Parton specifically. Peck is giddy at the thought of re-creating Out’s July 1997 cover.

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While Peck was a bit too young to have picked up this issue himself, Parton was always a major influence in his life as far back as he can remember. It was moments like listening to Parton at home with his mom and, later, to Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight” on his Walkman cassette player that turned him on to country music.

“For a long time in the country space, Dolly was probably our biggest representation as far as just being an ally,” Peck says. She has always represented someone who Peck, as a queer person, felt safe with within the genre of country. “She exudes this lovely, accepting nature. I think that’s why we all kind of are drawn to her,” he says.

Growing up, Peck was also enriched by his parents, who provided early support for his gay identity. “I was exceptionally lucky that I had a family who knew I was gay before I did,” the onetime Shania Twain collaborator reflects. “They knew before I realized what that meant, I suppose. I had two older brothers who were both straight, and my parents were kind of telling my brothers, ‘Orville is no different than you, and you’ve got to always take care of him.’ Kind of just prepping them. They opened the door and let me make the decision. And let me know that the door was open for me to make that decision, whether I was or not.”

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“That privilege of feeling comfortable with just being who I am, it’s allowed me to have this platform where I feel that the visibility of me being an out gay musician in country essentially is so important. It provides not only the visibility and the space for us in that genre but hopefully inspires other people to feel safe and like they can maybe be a country musician as well. Or listen to country with maybe a different perspective.”

“I think it’s a really big responsibility being a queer country musician,” he reflects. “The visuals I include in my videos should reflect people who feel marginalized from this genre and marginalized by this culture and make them feel included in this. Because it’s my wholehearted belief that they are. I want people to feel included in this genre because they deserve to have a seat at the table just like I felt like I deserved to have a seat at the table.”

While uncomfortable, this honesty is healing. “I’m still embarrassed about some of the stuff that I’ve put on that album and some of the lyrics and a little frightened about sharing some of it,” he says. “I don’t know what that means. But I have the awareness now to know it’s really important to do. It ultimately makes me feel better about myself than when I’m holding back on that stuff.”

A fear of vulnerability is a common theme for queer people. Many of us have to arm ourselves before venturing out into the world. With personas. With masks. It’s a well-traveled road, one that Peck knows intimately. But now he’s gained control of the reins.