Orville Peck Says Elton John Is a ‘Really Funny’ Collaborator: ‘He Is Always Telling Funny, Dirty Jokes’ (Exclusive)

Orville Peck confirms Elton John is “a really funny person to be around."

The musician, 36, recently told PEOPLE in an exclusive chat at the taping of Little Big Town’s Christmas at the Opry, which airs Dec. 16 on NBC, about collaborating with John, 77, on a country reimagining of “Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting) for Peck’s third studio album, Stampede.

After working together on the song, Peck says the legendary artist is “super crass, so he is always telling funny, dirty jokes and stuff like that.”

Related: Orville Peck 'Refused' to Give Up Despite People 'Laughing in My Face' for Being Openly Gay Artist (Exclusive)

Peck’s Stampede, released in August, features 18 duets with other hitmakers such as Willie Nelson, Kylie Minogue and more.

“I haven’t really done very many duets or features in the past, and so to do an album that has 18 artists on it was sort of very new for me,” Peck admits. “But I mean, it was with people I’ve idolized my whole life. I just couldn’t believe they wanted to work with me as well.”

Working with Nelson on “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other” was “beyond a dream,” he adds.

Related: Orville Peck and Willie Nelson Team Up for New Version of 'Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other'

When asked about inclusivity and diversity in country music, he says that “it’s definitely moving in the right direction.”

Peck adds, “Country has historically always been a bit of a slow burn on things that are new and a little different. I think we just need to keep championing more new stories within country.”

He emphasizes the importance of new people “telling their stories” in country.

“I’ll always support that and I hope more and more people will join me,” he says.

The “Dead of Night” singer has been championing this cause for years.

In 2023, he spoke with PEOPLE about his show My Kind of Country, on which he and country singers Jimmie Allen and Mickey Guyton mentored diverse, rising country talent who brought a new point of view to the genre.

“(The other mentors and I) could see a piece of ourselves in each of them, and we wanted it to be easier for them than it was for us,” he said at the time, adding that he wanted people to feel “welcome in country music” and to encourage other members of the industry to be open to “everybody.”

Peck also opened up about his 2020 collaboration “Legends Never Die” with Shania Twain, another inspiration he described as “down-to-earth."

“She's a very strong person, but she is very, very sweet and open and also a very defiant trailblazer in her own way as well,” he said. “My first experience really spending time with her was on her ranch in Las Vegas, and she was literally running her horses in the mud and just wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and we were having burritos out on the deck and just talking about horses and life and music.”

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