Dolly Parton urged fans and music industry professionals to give a pass to Elle King, who made headlines after an embarrassing performance in Nashville last month at a concert commemorating Parton’s birthday.
King, 34, said she was “hammered as hell” when she took the stage at The Grand Ole Opry as part of a show honoring the country legend, who turned 78 on Jan. 19.
The music legend, who was not present at the show’s location in her honor, told the outlet Additional on Friday that she supports King and likes her and her work.
“Elle is truly an amazing artist,” the author of Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones told the outlet. “She’s a great girl and she’s been through some tough things lately.”
The Jolene artist said of the fiasco, “She just had a little too much to drink so let’s just forgive and forget about that and move on because she felt worse than anyone ever could.”
Dolly Parton, 78, urged fans and music industry professionals to give a pass to Elle King, 34, who made headlines after an embarrassing performance in Nashville last month during a concert commemorating Parton’s birthday. Parton pictured in Texas in May
The Grand Ole Opry said it regretted the profanity singer King used during her Jan. 19 performance at the iconic Nashville venue
On the night of the Parton tribute, the Grand Ole Opry told a concertgoer it regretted the profanity King, the daughter of actor Rob Schneider, used in her performance.
King was seen slurring her words and saying the F-word several times during the set, before admitting on stage that she was “hammered”; and forgot the lyrics to Parton’s song Marry Me.
On January 23, a Parton insider told Ny Breaking.com that the legendary artist had no plans to publicly criticize King after the outing.
“Dolly is in no way going to bash Elle for her performance at the Opry, that is not Dolly’s style and that will not be Dolly’s intention to put down another artist, especially not a fellow female artist,” the source said .
The source continued, “Dolly is starting to not know what Elle is going through, even if it was just one bad night or something more, but there’s no way Dolly is going to drag Elle down, Dolly isn’t going to tear her down.
“This could ultimately lead to something positive and special in their future performance together. Dolly is all about building people up and this unfortunate incident is just that: a bump in the road.
The source concluded, “Dolly will stick it out and expect the best and if she ever talks, sees or performs with Elle in the future, it will all be positive because that’s where Dolly’s mentality always is.”
King subsequently rescheduled a series of shows following the embarrassing performance at the 9 to 5 singer’s tribute the week after the disastrous outing.
Elle King caused quite a stir among fans at the Grand Ole Opry last month when she appeared “hammered” during a performance
King subsequently rescheduled a series of shows following the embarrassing appearance at the 9 to 5 singer’s tribute the week after the disastrous outing
In a Jan. 19 tweet, the venue’s account said Lauren Alaina would not appear on the show, titled Opry Goes Dolly; After King’s profane display, an audience member responded to the tweet about Alaina.
“I wish she had been there because Elle King ruined the evening with her horrible, drunk and profane performance,” the user said. ‘Dolly Parton would be ashamed. For our first time at The Opry, it was a shame that we all had to witness that.”
The audience responded: “We deeply regret and apologize for the language used during last night’s second Opry performance.”
Others who attended the concert expressed similar sentiments in the wake of the disastrous outing.
“I was there on Friday for the second show with my two young daughters,” the user said. “Paid $380 for tickets, $40 for parking and waited in freezing temperatures to get in, only to leave early because of the nastiness coming out of Elle. So heartbreaking for my 11-year-old who loves Dolly.”
Another attendee said they were “surprised” someone didn’t take the microphone away from her while she was “bombing hard” during the outing.
One user replied: ‘Knowing some musicians who fought so hard to be on that stage and what an honor it is, let alone to be part of a performance in Dolly’s honour, it was completely disheartening for my girls, who have their own dreams of one day being on that stage.”
One user said King’s outing was “the most disgustingly unprofessional display” they had seen at a concert, and wondered “why was she allowed on stage when it was clear she was drunk.”
The singer and Rob Schneider’s daughter performed at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry at Ryman Auditorium as part of a show honoring Dolly Parton on her 78th birthday, although the country legend himself was not in attendance
King was seen slurring her words and saying the F-word several times during the set, before admitting on stage that she was “hammered”
Social media users left comments on King’s most recent Instagram post regarding the performance
One user asked the venue to never invite King “to return to such a respected institution” because “her trashy behavior was offensive not only to the Opry and its fans, but to the other artists performing that night.” were on stage.’
A TikTok video of @auctioneergirl King played Parton’s 2001 song Marry Me, while she seemed to forget the lyrics.
Instead, she sang, “I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this damn town… Don’t tell Dolly, ’cause it’s her birthday.”
She then started seemingly antagonizing the fans, saying, “Did you spend money on this?”
After a fan started yelling at her, King openly stated that she was drunk on stage, which did not go down well with the fans.
‘You won’t get your money back. I’ll tell you one more thing: “Hi, my name is Elle King (and) I’m fucking hammered,” she said on stage.
One of her bandmates suggested they play one of her songs, to which King replied, “I can barely play anyone else’s song, let me see if I can play one of my own.”
The Opry Goes Dolly show also featured Ashley Monroe, Tigirlily Gold, Dailey & Vincent and Terri Clark, while fans mocked King on social media.
While King hasn’t discussed that performance, she has spoken about her past drinking, insisting she can keep it under control. She is pictured here drinking on stage in January last year
Elle King and father Rob Schneider were pictured at The Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena, California in 2009
Although King has not discussed that performance, she has spoken about her past drinking, insisting that she was able to keep it under control.
‘I really like drinking and singing. I don’t want to get as drunk as I used to,” King said in a 2022 interview. “It’s easier for me to say, ‘Yes, I want to drink and party and (then) go on stage.’ I get nervous before I go on stage, (so) I have a few drinks.”
‘Drinking makes me less nervous when I touch the notes when I sing. If I don’t make them, it won’t sting as much,” she clarified.
King released her first single – Good to Be a Man – in 2012, and her first album, The Elle King LP, released that year, when she was named an Artist to Watch by Esquire.
While King began her career as a rock artist, with her 2014 breakthrough hit Ex’s and Oh’s, she shifted gears completely to country music with her third album, 2023’s Come Get Your Wife.
The singer was married to Andrew Ferguson from 2016 to 2017, but they never shared any children.