OFF HER TROLLEY FOR DOLLY
‘Drunk’ Elle upends Parton tribute
Singer Elle King publicist will be working more than 9 to 5 to make up for her behavior at a Dolly Parton tribute event.
King found herself in some hot water for slurring her words during a performance to celebrate Parton’s 78th birthday at Nashville, Tenn.’s, Grand Ole Opry on Friday.
“Elle King ruined the night with her horrible, drunk, and profane performance,” one fan wrote in a scathing post on X. “Dolly Parton would’ve been mortified. For our first time at The Opry, it was a shame we all had to witness that.”
The venue replied to the tweet, stating: “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.”
“It was such a disappointment to spend $300 on tickets for a show where one of the artists ruined an entire night,” the user replied. “I mean it’s The Opry, the greatest country venue in the world. That performance was like lackluster karaoke performer wasted out of their minds. Awful.”
The Post reached out to the singer for comment.
No apology
King, 34, has yet to apologize for the incident.
In a video uploaded to TikTok, King, 34, admitted that she did not know the words to Parton’s 2001 hit “Marry Me.”
“I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this f--king town,” King sang, before adding: “Don’t tell Dolly ’cause it’s her birthday.”
The singer, who is the daughter of actors Rob Schneider and London King, then began to antagonize fans who mocked her performance.
“You spent money for this s--t,” King slurred.
“You ain’t getting your money back,” King declared to an increasingly furious audience. “I’ll tell you one thing more: Hi, my name is Elle King [and] I’m f--king hammered.” Following the pronouncement, one of King’s bandmates quickly suggested that they play one of her own songs.
“I can barely play another person’s song, let me see if I can play one of mine,” King said.
Several fans on social media were also annoyed with the “America’s Sweetheart” songstress.
“It was tragic to witness this,” one fan commented. “I’m glad they pulled the curtain on her. Huge disrespect to Dolly.”
“This is disappointing. I’ve seen Elle live before & she put on a great show. I’m wondering if she was on something,” another person stated.
“I thought there was a rule people couldn’t cuss on stage at the Opry? I could be wrong, but I always thought that was a big no-no,” a third person stated.
This is not the first time King has admitted to performing drunk.
“I really like to drink and sing. I don’t want to get as drunk as I used to,” she told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2022. “It’s easier for me to say: ‘Yeah, I want to drink and party and [then] go on stage.’ I get nervous before I go on stage, [so] I have a couple of drinks [first].”
“Drinking makes me less nervous about hitting the notes when I sing,” she went on. “If I don’t make them, it won’t sting as much.”