Willie Nelson Is a Proud LGBTQIA+ Ally in New Orville Peck Duet

From West Texas to West Hollywood, Willie Nelson has love for the LGBQTIA+ community, as evidenced in his new duet with Orville Peck.

On Friday, April 5, the 90-year-old country music icon joined Peck, 36, on a new version of Ned Sublette’s 1981 song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other.” The song, from Peck’s forthcoming Stampede album, arrived with a music video that featured same-sex couples dancing happily in a western saloon.

Elsewhere in the video, Nelson and Peck play guitar together while sitting under a tree at Nelson’s Luck Ranch. Nelson’s wife, Annie D’Angelo, also appears in the visual.

“Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other / Say, what do you think all them saddles and boots was about?” the two sing in unison on the chorus. “And there’s many a cowboy who don’t understand the way that he feels for his brother / And inside every cowboy, there’s a lady that’d love to slip out.”

Nelson first covered the song in 2006. Peck told Rolling Stone that the recently inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member “kept talking about how the subject matter in this song was more important than ever.” Peck referenced “all the rhetoric surrounding the LGBTQIA+ community these days,” including the ongoing anti-trans legislation and apparent rollback of gay rights.

[embedded content]

“It is so encouraging to have real allies like Willie that aren’t afraid to stand proudly next to us,” added Peck.

Peck said it was Nelson’s idea to cover the queer-coded track. “As an artist who has sometimes felt excluded from the country music industry, once Willie Nelson wants to work with you, there’s really nothing the country world can say after that,” Peck said to Rolling Stone.

The openly gay Peck broke through in 2019 with his debut album, Pony. Peck released Bronco in 2022. On April 1, Peck announced he signed with Warner Records, and three days later, he announced his duets album, Stampede. Though he didn’t share a release date, Peck said the project is coming soon.

As for who else might show up on Stampede, Peck said that the album will feature “a couple of my good friends.”