Sophia Michaels
Orville Peck saluted the late Kenny Rogers on Monday with a solo acoustic version of “Islands in the Stream,” the latter’s 1983 hit with Dolly Parton. The acoustic cover arrived midway through the masked country artist’s livestreamed, at-home concert, which marked the one-year anniversary of his debut LP, Pony.
“This is one of my all-time favorite country duets,” he said while honoring Rogers, who died three days earlier at age 81 from natural causes. Peck performed “Islands in the Stream,” like the rest of his intimate set, against a living room wall adorned with string lights and cowboy art.
Peck’s livestream also included several Pony tunes — including “Hope to Die,” “Winds Change” and “Turn to Hate” — and closed with a new song. (A press release for the event notes that he will release a new track “in the coming weeks.”) He also welcomed a handful of guests, like comedian Margaret Cho, via video chat.
The songwriter also repeatedly thanked his fans (or “Peckheads”) for tuning into the livestream — a format many artists are using as a regular performance platform during the quarantine era of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I just want to remind all of you that we have gotten through a lot of terrible stuff in our lifetime, in our civilization,” he said. “And I think art and creativity and caring for one another and caring for ourselves and self-reflection — I think those things help us get through all of this.”
Peck, who performed his song “Dead of Night” on Jimmy Kimmel Live in December, earned wide acclaim for Pony — including a spot on the Rolling Stone roundup of 2019’s 40 Best Country and Americana Albums.
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