Rex Orange County has made his mark over the past year as a new performer and musician.

Born as Alex O’Connor in Haslemere, England, Rex Orange County has been playing music for many years. Both of his parents were involved in music, and he was inspired by the presence of music in their home.

At age 16, Rex was accepted into The BRIT School, which is known as one of the best performing arts schools in London. His name, “Rex Orange County”, came from a teacher at his school. His last name “O’Connor” has the initials “OC” so one of his teachers began to call him “The OC”. Over time, he started to answer to this nickname and added “Rex” to it, creating his stage name.

“… for some reason at the time,” he said, “having a kind of random association with ‘The OC’ was kinda funny to me! Rex is just a name I liked….”

Although he played a lot of music before, it was not until he began attending this school that he started to write his own music. It was at this time that he wrote his first album, Bcos U Will Never B Free, which told of the problems and struggles of teenage life.

Last year, Rex Orange County made his mark with his new music. In April, Rex Orange County released his newest album, Apricot Princess. On Apricot Princess, Rex sings about his love life. Many of the songs are about Thea Morgan-Murrell, his girlfriend who is also a musician. Morgan-Murrell is featured singing on the album in the song “Sycamore Girl”. Overall, Apricot Princess was a more happy album than Bcos Will Never B Free with many positive, loving messages.

Rex Orange County’s style isn’t defined by genre or type. Although there are some aspects of R&B and hip-hop in his music, there are also streaks of rock on Apricot Princess from songs like “Television / So Far So Good” and “Never Enough” with heavy guitar use. In addition, Rex Orange County is a talented piano player, and often uses strong piano parts in his music.

This album and other singles dropped recently by Rex Orange County led to his growth in popularity. For example after being discovered by famous rapper Tyler, the Creator, Rex Orange County was featured on multiple songs of his. Then later in the year, Rex went on tour with R&B singer Frank Ocean.

Rex Orange County accomplished all of these feats at age 19.

Recently, Rex Orange County has released singles including “Loving is Easy” in preparation for his new album. While he has not announced when the album will come out, he has said that he is working on it. According to him, he wants to write more about subjects he  hasn’t covered and try to write something other than love songs. After all of his accomplishments in the past year, Rex Orange County is sure to find success in the rest of his musical career.