One year after Orville Peck postponed his tour to better himself, the country star opened up about what he took away from the decision.
“I learned that being kind to myself and listening to what I need is really important because that allows me to be, you know, a better artist, a better person, a better leader for my band, for my tour crew,” Peck, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly at the taping of the iHeartRadio and P&G’s Can’t Cancel Pride event in May. “You know, if I’m burning at all, and kind of overworking myself and living to other people’s expectations of me, I can’t be the best version of myself. And so first and foremost, I have to be that so that I can be there for everyone else.”
Peck noted that there were a few tools that helped him through that time. “Journaling, meditate,” he said at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles. “I started doing Transcendental Meditation, which I love now. I did ayahuasca, which was really amazing. Can’t recommend enough. So yeah, I mean, I just did a lot of stuff to work on myself.”
In June 2023, Peck shared an emotional update that he had decided to press pause on his shows. “This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but I’ve come to realize that my current mental and physical health won’t allow me to bring my best,” he wrote via Instagram at the time, adding that his fans “mean the absolute world” to him. “But I have to take this time to replenish my mind and body so that I can come back stronger and healthier than before, in order to do what I love for many years to come.”
Peck, who’s known for wearing a mask on stage and not sharing his face publicly, noted that the choice bleeds into his personal life too. As for whether he dons the look on dating apps, Peck replied, “I did have a Raya and I did have my mask on.”
Peck added that he used to be a “reluctant role model” of the LGBTQIA+ community, but now he’s embracing that title.
“I think the way I look at it is, I represent something in a genre and a culture that doesn’t have a lot of visibility, and so I think anytime you are that, you do have a responsibility, that people are probably looking up to you and seeing a bit of themselves in you,” he said. “So, I mean, I take it as a very serious responsibility, and I’m not reluctant any longer. So if I am a role model to anyone, I’m very happy to be so.”
As for what taking on that role looks like to him, he told Us, “I guess just to try and show that you can be yourself and do whatever you want in any environment, whether that be a genre of music, whether that be a workplace, whether that be a job, whatever it might be. I think it’s important to have people show that you don’t need to dim your light or change who you are in order to have a seat at the table.”
Fans can tune in to Can’t Cancel Pride, produced by iHeartMedia and P&G, on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook pages, Hulu, Revry and The Advocate Channel on Wednesday, June 12, at 8 p.m. ET. The special will be available to stream throughout Pride Month.
With reporting by Kevin Zelman
