Orville Peck Dedicates Hollywood Bowl Debut to 'Gay Cowboys' — SkimNews
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- Orville Peck made his headlining debut at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night, roughly a year after appearing at the venue during Willie Nelson's 90th birthday celebration in 2023.
- Peck dedicated a live rendition of "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" — Ned Sublette's 1981 song about same-sex love featured on Peck's 2024 duets album "Stampede" — to "all the gay cowboys," telling the crowd, "We exist. We walk among you."
- Friday also marked the release of Peck's fourth studio album, "Mule," which he said chronicles his battle with addiction before he got sober in 2023, calling the songwriting process "a spiritual experience."
- Noah Cyrus made a surprise appearance, joining Peck on stage for "Atchafalaya," while opening acts included Lucius and Deloyd Elze and Peck's encore featured a cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."
- On the new album track "Ring the Bell," Peck sings of kissing an unidentified "Raiders" pro football player, telling the source he received permission from "the subject in question," who was "very, very honored" but would not have allowed the lyric if he were "hiding or fearful of it coming out."
Why it matters: For an artist who built his brand on masked mystique, Peck used his Hollywood Bowl debut — the largest stage in Los Angeles — to explicitly claim space for queer identity in country music, even as he revealed a lyric about a still-closeted NFL player, suggesting the genre's visibility conversation is advancing unevenly between public figures and those still in the shadows.
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