This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(April 2024)
Orville Peck
Peck in 2024
Background information
Birth name
Daniel Pitout
Born
(1988-01-06) January 6, 1988 (age 36) Johannesburg, South Africa
Daniel Pitout, known professionally as Orville Peck, is a South African country musician based in the United States and Canada. He is well-known for wearing a mask and not showing his face publicly.[1][2][3][4]
He released his debut album Pony in 2019,[1] followed by the EP Show Pony the next year. His second studio album Bronco was released in 2022. Following a self-imposed hiatus in 2023, Peck released his third studio album Stampede in 2024.
Early life
Peck was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and lived there until he was 15.[5] As a child, he taught himself music by playing an acoustic guitar and an old Casio keyboard.[6] He is the son of a sound engineer, and he did voice-over work for cartoons and other media as a child.[7] Growing up, he took ballet classes for 12 years, and performed in musical theatre productions. By the time he was in his early 20s, he had been on national tours of musicals.[7]
Peck self-produced his debut album, Pony, and released it in 2019 through a collaboration with Sub Pop.[11] He has noted that he "wrote, produced and played every instrument he could" on the album while working in a coffee shop and living with his parents.[12] In June of that year, he performed his songs "Dead of Night" and "Take You Back" live on CBC Radio One's Q.[13]Pony was named to the initial longlist for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize in June 2019.[14] The album also received a Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.[15]
Peck performed "Dead of Night" on Jimmy Kimmel Live on January 29, 2020.[16] He also announced a tour of selected cities in the United States, including performances at the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals.[16]
In May 2020, Peck announced the follow-up to his debut album, an EP titled Show Pony, with a release date of June 12, 2020. In June 2020, Peck announced the delayed release of Show Pony until August 14, 2020, in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement and the George Floyd protests.[17][18]
Peck recorded a cover of "Smalltown Boy" for the 2020 Pride edition of the Spotify Singles series. The song was released exclusively on Spotify on June 29, 2020, and everywhere else on July 31, 2020.[19]
It has been confirmed that Orville Peck is a persona of Daniel Pitout, drummer of the Canadian punk band Nü Sensae.[28] It was previously speculated that Pitout was Peck based on the similarity of their tattoos,[29][30] and Peck's mentioning that he was in a punk band. Pitout was born in Johannesburg, South Africa,[31] as was Peck.[5] Pitout is also listed by ASCAP as the songwriter for Peck's song "Old River"[32] and other songs that match the titles of the songs released by Peck, such as "Roses Are Falling".[33]
Peck is gay.[29][36] Regarding his reasons for wearing a mask to perform, he has stated: "The only reason I don't talk about it in depth is not because I want to dodge any questions, but because I want people to have their own take on it. I don't want to lay it out and pin it down. I just don't think that's important."[37]
In 2022, Peck's home was featured and toured by Architectural Digest.[38] The video was released on November 6, 2023, with the article released on November 7, 2023. As of July 2024[update], Peck resides in Los Angeles.[39]
In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".[50][51]
^ ab"Bronco by Orville Peck, Liner notes". Apple Music. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022. Everyone thinks I'm Canadian because I lived in Canada for a long time, but I'm not. I was born in South Africa—I grew up in Johannesburg until I was 15. I never talked about where I was from only because I wanted to wait—obviously, I'm a man of mystery and I like to not give everyone everything all at once. ... There's a sense of guilt and regret in the song about leaving somewhere that you don't really want to leave because you have to go make your way in the world. I'm so proud to be South African. I go back there all the time.
^ ab"Bamboozlement (w/ Orville Peck)"(Podcast). Sloppy Seconds with Big Dipper & Meatball. May 1, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020 – via foreverdogpodcasts.com.