Orville Peck is gearing up to release a duets album.
And the lead single for Stampede is with the legendary Willie Nelson, as the pair recently teamed up to reimagine Willie’s song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other,” which is Orville’s first release since signing a record deal with Warner Records.
Of course, “Cowboys” was originally written and recorded by by Latin country musician Ned Sublette in 1981, and is based on his experiences growing up in Portales, New Mexico. The lyrics satirize the stereotypes associated with cowboys and gay men, and when Willie released is at a single in 2006, it became the first LGBTQ-themed mainstream country song by a major artist.
Peck is openly gay and always wears a mask as part of his trademark look, and he’s of course featured in the new music video alongside Willie, which was filmed in large part at Willie’s expansive ranch just outside of Austin in Spicewood, Texas.
It shows plenty of cowboys flirting and dancing with each other as well, and in an interview with GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos last week, Peck says that the duet was actually Willie’s idea a few years ago:
“It’s surreal… I’ve had years to accept it and it still hasn’t sunk in, so I don’t know if it ever will.”
Willie has been a longtime advocate and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and Orville says that’s not an act or persona, and that Willie is the real deal:
“I have been a Willie Nelson fan my whole life… he’s always been such an activist in many, many ways. Spearheading the outlaw genre, which is all about being outside of the norm and the straight and narrow.
It’s sort of breathtaking how truly that person he is. It’s not just on a surface level or part of a persona. You know, the first thing Willie said to me, we were hanging out on his tour bus when he said he wanted to do the song, he said, ‘It’s more important now than ever.'”
And apparently, Willie even had his own ideas about the music video, saying he and Orville should get “gay married” and have Willie’s wife, Annie, be the officiant:
“He was cracking jokes, saying, ‘We have to do a music video! Maybe we can get gay married in the music video, and Annie, my wife, she can be the priest and she’ll give us away the chapel.’
The thing that’s amazing about Willie, you know, him and Dolly are the last patron saints of country music and they’re just sort of untouchable legends.
And I think the fact that they are not afraid to sort of give the middle finger to this concept of this gate kept part of country that’s all tied into weird politics, the fact that Willie stands next to the entire LGBTQIA+ community by doing this song just shows what an amazing person he is, what a legend he is.
It’s the best feeling in the world and it’s a win for all of us, that’s true allyship. Someone who is completely unafraid to be right there next to us without… there’s no vagueness involved.”
The release date and tracklist for Stampede is still forthcoming, and you can watch the music video for “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other” here:
You can watch the entire interview with GLAAD below.
