Orville Peck’s Mule turns overdose and rehab into a new album
Orville Peck told Rolling Stone his Sept. 18 album Mule follows his overdose, rehab, sobriety and reckoning with fame.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Orville Peck’s Mule is built from the year he says nearly ended his life. In a new Rolling Stone profile by Marissa R. Moss, the masked country singer said he overdosed in a New York City hotel in 2023, then entered rehab after performing one of the biggest shows of his career.
According to Rolling Stone, the incident happened the night before Peck was due to play a sold-out concert at the Theater at Madison Square Garden to start his Bronco tour. His team found him the next morning and told him he needed to get clean, the magazine reported.
Peck still went onstage that night for a 19-song set, then canceled the tour, packed his bags and checked into rehab, according to the profile. He told Rolling Stone he had been in one of the lowest periods of his life, describing himself as struggling with addiction and alcohol.
What is Orville Peck’s Mule about?
Mule, due Sept. 18, follows the events Peck says defined the hardest year of his life: a breakup, addiction, rehab, sobriety and the strain between his public image and private self. Rolling Stone reports that the album tells that story in order, opening with a song that imagines what might have happened if he had not survived the hotel-room overdose.
The opening track features Emmylou Harris, Allison Russell and Noah Cyrus, whom Peck described to Rolling Stone as a kind of country-music chorus for the record. The album also includes the songs “Big Ole House,” “Rehab Blues,” “Cowboy Heart,” “Ring the Bell” and the title track, according to the magazine.
Rolling Stone reports that Mule moves through bluegrass, classic country, glam-pop and cowpunk. Peck told the magazine he felt he could not soften the story if he wanted the album to be honest.
How rehab and recovery shaped the songs
One of the album’s sharpest turns, according to Rolling Stone, is “Rehab Blues,” which treats Peck’s time in rehab with dark humor rather than a solemn ballad approach. Peck told the magazine that, at the time, he did not want to be there and resisted the idea that he had a problem.
The first single, “Too Little, Too Late,” is described by Rolling Stone as a rowdy rock-leaning track about freedom earned after hard work. Peck also told the magazine that punk music reached him through his older brothers while he was growing up in South Africa, before country music and Johnny Cash became defining influences.
The album title continues Peck’s equine theme after Pony, Bronco and Stampede. Peck told Rolling Stone he sees the mule as a figure caught between worlds, a fit for a record about split identities and belonging.
Peck’s mask, fame and country music
Peck also discussed the shrinking mask that has become part of his stage identity. Rolling Stone notes that the mask once covered far more of his face with long fringe, while his current version leaves much more visible.
He told the magazine that putting on the mask a decade ago ended up revealing more about him, because it forced him to think about the versions of ourselves people show at work, with friends or in public.
Rolling Stone spoke with Peck before his Grand Ole Opry debut, where he was set to sing Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” Peck said his major goals included duetting with Willie Nelson, playing the Opry and performing with Parton. The first two, he noted to the magazine, are now checked off.
The Opry lineup also included Kaitlin Butts, Margo Price, Mickey Guyton, Dasha and Cleto Cordero, according to Rolling Stone. Peck said he is glad women and queer artists are gaining more visibility in country music, a genre where he has long aimed to tell his own stories.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.