Orville Peck
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Daniel Pitout, born January 6, 1988, known professionally as Orville Peck, is a South African country musician based in the United States and Canada, widely known for often wearing a mask and not showing his face publicly. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and raised in Vancouver, Canada, the deep-voiced troubadour is one of the few proudly and openly gay men in the country space. The singer first moved to North America when he was 15, when his family moved to Toronto, Canada. Growing up, he trained in ballet for 12 years and performed in musical theatre. It was revealed that Orville Peck's real name is Daniel Pitout, and that he is the former drummer of the Canadian punk band Nü Sensae. 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. The masked country singer has been steadily on the rise since the release of his debut album "Pony" in 2019. His distinctive style has been described as filtering "country music through shoegaze and goth influences." His second studio album "Bronco" was released in 2022. On April 5, 2024, he released a cover of "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other" with Willie Nelson as the lead single from "Stampede," his third studio album and first duets album. In June 2022, Peck was given the Cultural Icon Award by the Tom of Finland Foundation. Peck strongly identifies with 1970s era country music and lists classic stars Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton as his influences.