Orville Peck revealed he attempted suicide after cancelling his “Bronco” tour in June 2023 — but the crisis became a “turning point.”
“I was a bad addict, a coping alcoholic,” the country star, 38, told Rolling Stone in an interview published Friday.
“And I had this spiral moment, where I went back to my hotel and tried to take my life,” he continued. “It was a big turning point for me, with a lot of realizations to come. It was something that needed to happen.”
The “Midnight Ride” hitmaker shared that two days prior to pulling the plug on the tour — citing his “current mental and physical health” — he’d purposely overdosed.
Peck told the outlet he was “in one of the worst places” of his life at the time — but noted that his upcoming album, “Mule,” became an outlet for a difficult year that included a rehab stint and a breakup.
The first single from the album, “Too Little Too Late,” dropped on Friday, while the album itself is set for release on Sept. 18.
The singer announced the album — his fourth studio offering — in a social media post on Thursday, sharing a portrait of himself in white boxers, a white T-shirt, a white cowboy hat and his signature mask. The other image featured a black-and-white picture of a mule.
“This record is a chronological account of the year I lost my way,” he captioned the announcement.
The “Dead of Night” singer also recalled his time in rehab, admitting to the magazine he “didn’t want to be there” at the time.
“I thought it was a waste of time, that I’m unique and didn’t have a problem,” he explained, sharing that his new track, “Rehab Blues,” was a way to work through those feelings.
“So I was like, I’m going to write the funniest song about this experience, because at the time I was just like, ‘F— this. I want to leave,’” he noted.
The GLAAD Media Awards Vito Russo Award honoree continued, “What I was really trying to capture in terms of the concept, there was no way to gloss over or sugarcoat it.”
In a previous interview, Peck told NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly he was “happy” to have become sober after hitting pause on his high-profile career.
“I got sober a couple of years ago,” he shared in the 2025 interview.
“There’s, like, a lot of things in my life that I have worked on over the last two or three years where I’m just really – I’m just really happy with myself,” he said at the time.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
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