YOUR FAVORITE LOGO TV SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

Orville Peck Rounds Up Cowboys and Drag Queens for “Queen of the Rodeo”

Is that Louisianna Purchase from "Dragula"?!

Orville Peck is queering up the rodeo world.

The gay country crooner just premiered his new video, "Queen of the Rodeo," which features burlesque performers and drag queens taking over the cowboy scene.

Directed by Austin Peters, the short film follows two-spirit drag artist Thanks Jem, who enters a pageant queen contest at a local rodeo.

YouTube/Austin Peters

Wearing a sash that reads Miss Bitter Prairi, Thanks Jem goes up against other burlesque beauties hoping to be crowned "Queen of the Rodeo." After Jem sees the competition, they go to the bar for a drink—only to be served by Louisianna Purchase, who you may recognize from the third season of Dragula. While at the bar, Jem is inspired by the video for Orville's song "Roses Are Falling," which is showing on the television.

Finding courage from his video—can you blame them?—Jem goes back out on the stage and performs "Queen of the Rodeo" in front of the judges and competitors.

"I'm pretty inspired by drag queens in general. 'Queen of the Rodeo' in particular is about a queen named Thanks Jem. She's originally from Winnipeg, and lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada," Peck told Trial and Error Collective. "It takes such incredible artistry to do what drag queens do. They often spend copious amounts of money—thousands and thousands of dollars—on wigs and makeup and outfits, and then they're performing in bars for a hundred dollars in tips."

The pageant-themed video should come as no surprise to Orville fans–or "Peckheads," as they are called—since Orville himself has said that the country music scene is "super gay."

Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 08: Orville Peck attends RuPaul's DragCon 2019 at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on September 08, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

“The drama. The storytelling. There’s so many incredible figures in country that gay dudes would die for, because it’s pageantry, almost,” he told Gay Times in 2019. “With country music, there’s a long legacy of camp-ness, storytelling and flamboyance with costumes, wigs and rhinestones. Just look at Dolly Parton, she’s practically a drag queen.”

Orville also closes out his new video with a dedication to the LGBTQ community: "For all of the LGBTQ+ and two-spirit community members working and performing in rodeos, ranches, and roadhouses across North America."

Does Jem take home the crown? Watch the "Queen of the Rodeo" video below.

Latest News