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Alexander James O'Connor (born 4 May 1998), known professionally as Rex Orange County, is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Grayshott,
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. '' NPR Music''s Zoë Jones has described O'Connor's music as "a bright blend of hip-hop, jazz, and bedroom pop". Teaching himself how to produce his own music at the age of 16, he released his debut album, '' Bcos U Will Never Be Free'' (2015), on
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
and
Soundcloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
. O'Connor then released numerous solo singles throughout 2016 and 2017, including the platinum-certified singles, "Sunflower" and "Best Friend", and then released his second studio album, '' Apricot Princess'' (2017). After catching the attention of
Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been cited as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop during the 2010s. Tyler beca ...
with ''Bcos U Will Never B Free'', they collaborated on two songs from Tyler's fourth album, '' Flower Boy'' (2017), which caused O'Connor to rise to prominence, allowing him to sign with
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
. O'Connor released his third studio album, ''
Pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...
'' (2019), lyrically exploring more personal topics, such as human emotion, and experimenting with different genres. The album became his first to enter the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States, peaking at number three on the chart. His fourth studio album, '' Who Cares?'' (2022), topped the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
and peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200.


Early life

Alexander James O'Connor was born on 4 May 1998, to Nina and Phil O'Connor, a professional sports photographer. He grew up in the village of Grayshott near
Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...
. O'Connor's interest in music began at a young age. At age 5, O'Connor joined the choir at the school where his mother had worked. He became a drummer and later taught himself piano. He attended the BRIT School. In school, he came up with the name, Rex Orange County, which was based on a teacher-given nickname, "The OC", after his surname O'Connor.


Career


2014–2016: Early career and ''Bcos U Will Never B Free''

At age 16, O'Connor began playing the guitar and started to produce his own music using
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
's
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software. At this age, he also began attending the BRIT School where he studied drumming and was one of four percussionists in his year; the relative rareness of his primary instrument provided him with wide exposure to various projects of others in his school which he credits with exposing him to new music. O'Connor released his debut single, "Corduroy Dreams", as the lead single from his debut studio album, '' Bcos U Will Never B Free'', on 18 May 2015. On 4 September 2015, ''Bcos U Will Never B Free'' was self-released by O'Connor free of charge on
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
and
SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
. Upon listening to the album, fellow musician and producer Two Inch Punch got in touch with him, providing him with a management team. The two would later collaborate on O'Connor's singles, including the single "Uno", released on 17 November 2016. '' Clash'' described "Uno", writing: "The buoyant keyboard riff underpins a hypnotic half-spoken vocal, one that veers from topic to topic in a hazy burst of creative mania."


2017–2018: Rise to prominence and ''Apricot Princess''

''Bcos U Will Never B Free'' caught the attention of the American rapper
Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been cited as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop during the 2010s. Tyler beca ...
, who sent him an email describing his enjoyment of the project. This led to Tyler flying O'Connor out the following year to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to collaborate on his album '' Flower Boy'', O'Connor co-writing and contributing vocals to the songs "
Boredom In conventional usage, boredom, , or tedium is an emotion characterized by Interest (emotion), uninterest in one's surrounding, often caused by a lack of distractions or occupations. Although, "There is no universally accepted definition of bo ...
" and "Foreword". On 25 January 2017, he released the single "Best Friend" (premiering on
Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...
's
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station), followed later in the year by the release of his second studio album '' Apricot Princess''. His work was compared by Aimee Cliff of ''
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'' in 2017 to "other artsy, post-genre teen artists, such as Kevin Abstract or Steve Lacy". O'Connor's first release following the success of ''Apricot Princess'' and ''Flower Boy'' was on 11 October 2017 with the single " Loving Is Easy", created in collaboration with the Dutch artist Benny Sings. On 16 April 2018, he performed the song in his television debut on ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...
''. On 31 May 2018, he released a cover of " You've Got a Friend in Me" in collaboration with
Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...
, the creator of the song. He was also featured in Spotify's Rise Program. On 9 October 2018, O'Connor was scheduled to appear on the French television programme '' Quotidien'', but refused to perform because it featured a sketch by comedian Alison Wheeler parodying the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
, which he called "tasteless".


2019–2023: ''Pony'' and ''Who Cares?''

On 14 February 2019, O'Connor released the single "New House". Later that year on 12 September, he released " 10/10"; the lead single from his third album ''
Pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...
''. Released on 25 October 2019, ''Pony'' was his first major-label album release through
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
.
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gave the album a rating of 76/100 based on 11 professional reviews. On 30 September 2020, O'Connor released an EP with recordings from his performance at
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...
in
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during his ''Pony'' tour titled ''Live at Radio City Music Hall'' alongside a documentary released on
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. This documentary showed the events leading up to this performance as well as the early conclusion of the ''Pony'' tour due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In October 2020, O'Connor confirmed that he was in the process of recording a fourth studio album titled '' Who Cares?''. In January 2021, he liked a Tweet seemingly confirming that it would be released at some point later that year. However, this did not materialise. On 13 January 2022, he began officially teasing the album, sending out postcards containing a phone number that when called, a snippet of a song would play. The album was released on 11 March 2022, and was his first to top the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, entering ahead of '' Impera'' by
Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
. In July 2022, O'Connor cancelled tour dates in Australia, New Zealand and Europe due to "unforeseen personal circumstances". He then released a stand-alone single, titled "Threat", on 10 August 2022. In late 2023, O'Connor toured in countries throughout Australia and Asia. He then performed at the 2023 Camp Flog Gnaw festival.


2024–present: ''The Alexander Technique''

On 9 July 2024, O'Connor announced his fifth studio album, '' The Alexander Technique'', after first teasing it one week prior on X. On 18 July 2024, O'Connor released two songs, "Alexander" and "Guitar Song" and shared the 16-song tracklist for the album, which was released on 6 September.


Artistry

Growing up, O'Connor listened to
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
,
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
,
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
, and American alternative artists like
Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...
and
Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...
. He cites these artists and others as core inspiration for his own music. On his song '2008' from The Alexander Technique he mentions
Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...
' Illmatic, Black Album by Jay Z, Paper Trail by T.I., Tha Carter III by
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...
and
808s & Heartbreak ''808s & Heartbreak'' is the fourth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West, released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 24, 2008, having been recorded earlier that year in September and October at Glenwood Stud ...
by Ye as rap he listened to and was inspired by to begin his musical career.


Personal life

In 2015, O'Connor began dating fellow British singer-songwriter Thea Morgan-Murrell (known professionally as Thea), having met while attending the BRIT School together. He sang about her in several of his songs, and they collaborated on the tracks "Sycamore Girl" and "Never Had the Balls". On 24 November 2020, he confirmed on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
that they were separated, tweeting "i am not in a relationship". On 10 October 2022, O'Connor appeared in Southwark Crown Court and was charged with six counts of
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
of the same woman, alleged to have taken place in June 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and was bailed, with a trial provisionally scheduled for 3 January 2023. A representative for O'Connor released a statement on his behalf which read: "Alex is shocked by the allegations, which he denies, and looks forward to clearing his name in court. He is unable to make any further comment because of the ongoing proceedings". On 22 December 2022, O'Connor released a statement saying all charges against him were dropped and the case was to be dismissed following an investigation by the
Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...
. O'Connor claimed in his statement that CCTV footage and a police interview with the complainant's partner – who was with her on the night in question – did not match her account, meaning the case did not meet the CPS's legal test for a prosecution.


Accolades

In January 2018, O'Connor came in second in the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
''
Sound of Sound of... is an annual BBC poll of music critics and industry figures to find the most promising new music talent. It was first conducted by the BBC News website in 2003, and is now widely covered by the corporation's online, radio and TV out ...
2018'' award after Norwegian singer Sigrid.


Discography


Studio albums

* '' Bcos U Will Never B Free'' (2015) * '' Apricot Princess'' (2017) * ''
Pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...
'' (2019) * '' Who Cares?'' (2022) * '' The Alexander Technique'' (2024)


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1998 births Living people 21st-century English singers Bedroom pop musicians British indie rock musicians British hip-hop musicians British people of Irish descent English singer-songwriters British multi-instrumentalists British pop musicians Lo-fi musicians Musicians from Hampshire