Orville Peck

Peck was born somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere and lived there most of his life.[3] He is the son of a sound engineer, and as a child he did voice-over work for cartoons and other media.[4] Growing up, he trained in ballet for 12 years, and performed in musical theatre. By the time he was in his early 20s, Peck had been on national tours of musicals.[4]

In his mid-20s, he moved to London to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and later starred in a play on the West End.[4]

"Orville Peck" is a pseudonym;[5] he has been described as "presumably older than 20 and younger than 40".[5]

Peck self-produced his debut album, Pony, and released it in 2019 through a collaboration with Sub Pop.[6] 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.[7] In June of that year, he performed his songs "Dead of Night" and "Take You Back" live on CBC Radio One's Q.[8] Pony was named to the initial longlist for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize in June 2019.[9] The album also received a Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.[10]

Peck performed "Dead of Night" on Jimmy Kimmel Live on January 29, 2020.[11] He also announced a tour of selected cities in the United States, including performances at the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals.[11]

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 July, 2020, Peck announced the delayed release of Show Pony until August 14, 2020 in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing protests against police brutality in the United States.[12][13]

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.[14]

Sources have speculated that Peck is a persona of Daniel Pitout, drummer of the Canadian punk band Nü Sensae, based on the similarity of Peck's tattoos,[15][16] as well as Peck mentioning that he was in a punk band. Pitout was born in Johannesburg, South Africa,[17] and Peck has said he grew up in a well-known part of the Southern Hemisphere.[4] Pitout also starred as a replacement in Peter Pan Goes Wrong in the West End in 2016,[18] which lines up with Peck mentioning he was in a West End play while he lived in London.[4] Peck has not confirmed his identity on the record.[19]

Peck identifies as gay.[20][15]

Regarding his reasons for wearing a mask to perform, Peck has stated that "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."[21]

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".[24][25]