Grand Ole Opry forced to apologize after Elle King's "hammered" Dolly Parton tribute

Elle King took the stage drunk at a Dolly Parton birthday tribute show, causing attendees to complain

By Mary Kate Carr  |  January 22, 2024 | 4:15pm
Aux News Dolly Parton
Grand Ole Opry forced to apologize after Elle King's
Elle King Photo: Jason Davis

The Grand Ole Opry posted an apology to Twitter/X after a self-described “hammered” performance from Elle King during a Dolly Parton tribute show. King performed a cover of “Marry Me” at the “Opry Goes Dolly” show in honor of Parton’s 78th birthday, but the singer’s appearance was marked by slurred speech, forgetting lyrics, and profanity. After attendees complained about how King “ruined” the night on social media, the Grand Ole Opry responded that “we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.”

In a TikTok clip from the show, King can be heard telling the crowd, “Don’t tell Dolly, holy shit. I swear if any of you guys tell Dolly.” She also said on stage, “I’m not even gonna fucking lie. Y’all bought tickets for this shit? You ain’t getting your money back,” before adding, “I’ll tell you one thing more. Hi, my name is Elle King. I’m fucking hammered.” The artist has not addressed the backlash to her performance.

@auctioneergirl

I think Elle King just ended here career. I cant imagine disrespecting Dolly at the @Grand Ole Opry on Dollys birthday 🤦🏼‍♀️ I hope Elle gets the help she needs cause this does not pass the vibe check. **This is not my video** • • • #thegrandoleopry #drunk #elleking #ellekingmusic #Tennessee #fyp #foryoupage #foryoupageofficiall #fypシ #fypシ゚viral

♬ original sound – AuctioneerGirl


King, daughter of Saturday Night Live alum Rob Schneider and best known for her hit “Exes & Ohs,” has previously discussed struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues. In 2018, she told Yahoo Entertainment that she’d “stopped putting a lot of bad, poisonous drugs in my system and I replaced that with vitamins”; In July 2020, she talked to Variety about doing “sober summer.” “How do you live up to this personae of being a wild party girl? I’m still that girl,” she told the outlet. “My definition of partying has changed.”

In 2022, she told The San Diego Union-Tribune, “The music I made stone cold sober and organically has been some of my favorite music I’ve ever created. It doesn’t mean I’m not proud of the music I made when I wasn’t completely sober, but do I want to go back in time to who I was and give her a hug? Yeah, I do. Everything is about moving forward. But at the same time, I really like to drink and sing. I don’t want to get as drunk as I used to.”

“It’s easier for me to say: ‘Yeah, I want to drink and party and (then) go on stage,’” she went on to say. “I get nervous before I go on stage, (so) I have couple of drinks (first). Drinking makes me less nervous about hitting the notes when I sing. If I don’t make them, it won’t sting as much.”

 
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