Orville Peck slipped a revealing detail about his dating history into his new song “Ring the Bell,” admitting that he once made out with a Las Vegas Raiders player.
The country singer kept the athlete’s identity private, but he said the mystery man knew about the lyric before Peck released the song. According to Peck, the player approved the reference and felt “very honored” by the shout-out.
Orville Peck reveals mystery Las Vegas Raiders player approved his hookup lyric
Peck included the confession on his album Mule, singing, “I love the Lakers, the Mets and the Longhorns, made out with a guy on the Raiders.”
He knew the lyric would immediately raise questions, so Peck made clear that he had not included it without permission.
“I’m going to preface this by saying that I did receive permission to sing that lyric from the subject in question and he was very thrilled,” Peck said.
The singer explained to Variety that he wanted to keep the hookup mysterious rather than identify the athlete directly.
“I told him, ‘Look, I’m gonna keep it sort of ambiguous and mysterious, but I would like to include this in this song.’ He was very, very honored,” Peck recalled.
Peck also said he would not have used the moment in his music if the person involved had felt uncomfortable.
“I would never have done it if it were somebody who was hiding or fearful of it coming out,” he said.
The NFL player reference naturally led to speculation about the athlete’s identity. Carl Nassib publicly came out as gay while playing for the Raiders in 2021, but Peck refused to confirm or deny whether Nassib was the person behind the lyric.
Peck said the mystery man probably would have allowed him to reveal his name, but the singer did not think that detail was necessary.
The lyric appeared on Mule, an album that also explored Peck’s addiction, treatment and sober life. Peck said the record functioned partly as a thank-you, an apology, and an explanation to people close to him.
For now, the Raiders player remains unidentified, despite approving the lyric.
