Country star Orville Peck released his fourth studio album, Mule, on Friday. The often-masked South African bass-baritone singer captured attention.
On the fifth track "Ring The Bell" fans heard something they may not often hear on a country album.
He sings: "I love the Lakers, the Mets and the Longhorns, made out with a guy on the Raiders."
Subsequently, he added that he has seen him on TV. According to the singer, he received "permission" from the athlete and that the football player was "very thrilled" and "very, very honored" to feel included on the new album (via Variety):
“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 says. “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.”
He continues, “I would never have done it if it were somebody who was hiding or fearful of it coming out. This person would have probably allowed me to say their name if I wanted, but I didn’t think it was necessary. People can use their own common sense and discovery to try to figure out who it may be, but that’s all I’ll say.”
While playing for the organization, former Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib was the first active NFL player to publicly come out as gay.
Orville Peck, however, declined to confirm or deny to Variety if the lyric was written about Nassib or about a different player entirely.
The singer, who won the GLAAD Vito Russo Award for for elevating LGBTQ+ awareness and visibility in country music and the Elton John Impact Award for his ongoing advocacy and support for the LGBTQ+ community, also made his Broadway debut as the Emcee in the revival of Cabaret in 2025.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Country star who kissed NFL player adds details about his viral lyric
