Probably for the best…
In case you somehow missed it, Elle King has been heavily criticized over her performance on the Grand Ole Opry this weekend during the Opry’s Opry Goes Dolly tribute to Dolly Parton on the legend’s 78th birthday.
After appearing on the early show to perform “Jolene,” which reportedly went off without issue, King returned for the second show of the evening visibly intoxicated and started out her performance by slurring her way through Dolly’s “Marry Me” from her 2001 album Little Sparrow.
@traveler_bex #Elleking ruins #dollyparton birthday bash in #nashville ♬ original sound – Bex
King forgot the words to the song while telling the crowd in the middle of the song that she went to nearby Robert’s Western World:
“I went to Robert’s…I don’t give a sh*t…
Don’t tell Dolly. Holy sh*t. I swear to God if you guys tell Dolly…”
And it didn’t get any better from there. After the song, Elle unleashed a profanity-laced rant on the hallowed stage of the Ryman:
“Everyone’s like, ‘Holy sh*t, we bought tickets for this sh*t?’ I’m not even gonna lie. I’m not even gonna lie.
Holy sh*t. I’m not even gonna f*ckin’ lie. Y’all bought tickets for this sh*t? You ain’t gettin’ your money back.
I’ll tell you one thing that’s true. I’ll tell you one thing more.
Hi, my name is Elle King. I’m f*cking hammered.”
@steveh881 Elle King at the Grand Ole Opry#elleking #grandoleopry #dollyparton #drunk #whatshappening #wow #sad #foruyou #viral #viralvideo #trend #fypp #views ♬ Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) – Elle King & Miranda Lambert
Yikes…
Fans immediately took to social media to call the performance disrespectful not only to Dolly, but to the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium. (The Opry is also broadcast live on WSM Radio).
The Opry even responded to a fan on Twitter (or X), apologizing for the language used by Elle King during the performance.
And while Dolly hasn’t publicly addressed the incident after it blew up on social media over the weekend, her sister Stella Parton did take to Twitter (or X, whatever) to give her thoughts, calling King a “spoiled brat” for disrespecting Dolly and the Opry.
King has yet to publicly comment since the performance, but yesterday it was announced that her upcoming show at Billy Bob’s Texas, which was scheduled for this Friday, has been postponed to September.
No reason was given for the last-minute change, but fans were quick to connect the dots to her drunken Opry performance.
And now, King has rescheduled four more shows on her current tour, postponing all of her tour dates through mid-March.
The announcement was made on her Instagram, the first publicly-available statement from King since the Dolly debacle, indicating that tickets for the original shows will be honored for the new dates. But once again, no explanation was given for the rescheduled dates.
Of course fans are hoping that King is using this time to get the help she needs after two high-profile performances where she’s appeared under the influence in the past month.
And looking at her calendar, King still has some festival appearances scheduled for the beginning of March, as well as a stop opening for Chris Stapleton on his All American Road Show in San Diego, California.
There’s no word on whether she will still be making those appearances or whether she’ll be wiping her calendar clean until the rescheduled tour dates. And of course we can only speculate that the reason for the cancellations has to do with her drunken Opry appearances.
But obviously, everybody’s wishing for the best for Elle King and hoping that she’s able to get any help she may need.
