Elle King is opening up about her infamous drunken performance at the Grand Ole Opry for Dolly Parton’s birthday, which caused quite a controversy.
The 34-year-old singer was part of a birthday tribute to Dolly Parton at Nashville’s famed arena, although the 78-year-old legend wasn’t actually in attendance.
During the set, she was seen slurring her words several times before admitting she was “hammered.”
Nearly five months later, King opened Chelsea Handler’s Best Chelsea podcastwhich showed that she was going through ‘something very difficult’ just before the performance.
She admitted that it was the first time she had discussed the incident, starting with the fact that she had done “a big no-no” that night.
Elle King Opens Up About Her Infamous Drunken Performance at the Grand Ole Opry for Dolly Parton’s Birthday That Sparked a Storm of Controversy
The 34-year-old singer was part of a birthday tribute to Dolly Parton at Nashville’s famed arena, although the 78-year-old legend wasn’t actually in attendance
“Not only did I cuss on stage, ham it up, at the Grand Ole Opry, but it was Dolly Parton’s birthday and the Opry was paying tribute to Dolly Parton.”
She added that she hadn’t talked about it in the past five months because she “just needed to chill” and admitted it was a “big deal.”
“I was going through something really hard and traumatic in my life at the time,” Elle explained during the May 16 episode of the podcast.
“That day was a really big day dealing with what I was going through and still going through, and I suffer from severe PTSD,” she said.
King added, “That day I hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept in days and I was really overwhelmed. I was like a shell of myself.”
She added that there were two separate shows, and that day there was a “major snowstorm” and the previously booked headliner was canceled and they asked King to intervene.
“They asked me if I wanted to sing, if I wanted to be the headliner and sing Jolene. I thought, “Great, I know that song,” King added.
She said the first show was “fucking perfect,” although she admitted she took “one shot too many and I’m just not there, in my body,” adding, “I don’t even remember what I said.’
“Not only did I cuss on stage, ham it up, at the Grand Ole Opry, but it was Dolly Parton’s birthday and the Opry was doing a tribute to Dolly Parton.”
She added that she hadn’t talked about it in the past five months because she “just needed to chill” and admitted it was a “big deal.”
King added, “That day I hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept in days and I was really overwhelmed. I was like a shell of myself’
“I had the curtain fall on me, and I was completely 100% dissociated, and I just went to the dressing room – I was on the floor, just sobbing, like, ‘What have I done?'” she said, adding the next day it was ‘everywhere’ and she was ‘mortified’.
She said she hand-wrote an apology letter to both the Grand Ole Opry and Dolly Parton herself, who called her a few days later, adding that Parton was “proof that angels exist.”
“She just said really kind words and made me laugh, and that’s the kindness of women,” King added.
“Those are the things I got that I’ll never forget, because I wanted to fucking die and I had to remove myself from the population for a while,” King admitted.
She took a two-month break from touring after the incident, before sharing a post on Instagram in March.
“To everyone who sends me love, because I’m human and I’ve already spoken to Dolly. I love you. To everyone who told me to kill myself, I love you too,” she said.