Alexander O'Connor, better known by his stage name Rex Orange County, is an English recording artist. He grew up in the village of Grayshott near Haslemere, Surrey. O'Connor has released three albums: Bcos U Will Never B Free, Apricot Princess, and Pony.
Name
The name Rex Orange County is based on a teacher-given nickname, "The OC", after his surname O'Connor.
Early life and work
O'Connor was involved with music from a young age. At age five, O'Connor was a part of the choir at the school where his mother worked. He became a drummer and later taught himself piano. At age sixteen, he picked up the guitar and started to produce his own music on Logic software. Growing up, he listened to Queen, ABBA, Stevie Wonder, and American pop punk artists like Weezer and Green Day. Starting his music journey, at Frensham Heights School. Beginning at age 16, he attended 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 to exposing him to new and fresh music. During this time, O'Connor also began producing his own projects.
Career
In 2015, Rex Orange County self-released Bcos U Will Never B Free on SoundCloud. This put him on musician Two Inch Punch's radar, who provided him with a management team. The two also collaborated on a few songs—"UNO", "Best Friend", and "Untitled". This also caught Tyler, the Creator's attention. He sent him an email, appreciating the album, and he also flew him out to L.A. to work on Flower Boy. Rex Orange County shared online the DIY "UNO" recording in 2016 when he was 18. Clash magazine wrote, "The buoyant keyboard riff underpins a hypnotic half-spoken vocal, one that veers from topic to topic in a hazy burst of creative mania." In 2017, he released his second albumApricot Princess. Three months after the release of his second album, Rex Orange County was featured on Tyler, the Creator's album Flower Boy; he co-wrote and contributed vocals to the songs "Boredom" and "Foreword". His work has been compared to "other artsy, post-genre teen artists". , the most popular track by Rex Orange County on Spotify is "Loving Is Easy" created in collaboration with the Dutch artist Benny Sings. On 16 April 2018, Rex Orange County performed the song in his television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On 31 May 2018, Rex Orange County released a cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me", performing along with Randy Newman, the creator of the song. He was also featured in Spotify's Rise Program. On 14 February 2019, he released a new single called "New House." Later that year, on 12 September he released "10/10"; the lead single from his third album Pony. Pony was his first major label album release through RCA on 25 October 2019. NPR Music journalist Zoë Jones described Rex Orange County's music as "a bright blend of hip-hop, jazz, and bedroom pop."
Awards
In January 2018, O'Connor came in second in the BBCSound of 2018 award after Norwegian singer Sigrid.
