Elle King Says That Her Disastrous Dolly Parton Tribute Moment Resulted From Having “One Shot Too Many”

Elle King is still working through what she calls her “rock bottom.”

In case you need a refresher, just days after King appeared to be inebriated as she hosted Nashville’s 2024 New Years Eve Bash, the “Ex’s and Oh’s” singer angered a lot of country fans when she inadvertently disrespected the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman and Dolly Parton during an Opry Goes Dolly tribute.

King slurred her speech as she stood in front of the crowd at Ryman Auditorium, and barely got through a performance of Dolly Parton’s “Marry Me.” She shouted a very tasteful, “I don’t give a sh*t” right in the middle of the song, which just in case you weren’t familiar with the tune, is not a part of the chorus:

@traveler_bex #Elleking ruins #dollyparton birthday bash in #nashville ♬ original sound – Bex

It was truly a jaw-dropping moment.

Following that incident, Elle King canceled every single concert that was on her calendar, and made a point to attend therapy. The artist tried to get through the difficult time as privately as possible, and as time has gone on, King has been more open about what exactly went down that led to the Dolly Parton tribute disaster.

While talking with Bunnie Xo on the Dumb Blonde Podcast, Elle King decided to not hold anything back and reveal to the world the moments that led to her on-stage incident. There were many other things going on in what she describes as a “really dark part of her life,” and that – along with some other bad decisions made on that fateful day – led to the unfortunate events that played out on the Ryman Stage:

“No one really knew what was really going on. And they just thought, ‘God forbid somebody looks and thinks. Wow, what was going on with her that day?’ I played two shows that day, I played two f****** shows. The first show was great, it was perfect. But I hadn’t eaten, I hadn’t done anything, I hadn’t slept in days. I had such bad anxiety and everything.

I just walked back on out stage, and I had taken one shot too many. I walked through that alleyway and we went to Robert’s Western World, and a bunch of people were celebrating, and I took one shot of tequila when I had been drinking a martini, and that was the tiniest I had ever been. And boom. I come to and the curtain’s down. And it sucks. It’s awful. 

But at the same time, I went home, and I was like I never want to cry like that on a car ride home. I never want to wake up feeling like that ever again. I never want to feel that shame. I never want to, you know, any time Dolly Parton calls you is cool, but I didn’t want it to be under those circumstances. But she called me to make me feel better.”

Though that “one shot too many at Robert’s” might have led her to a career low, she’s now able to look at the entire night as a bit of a wake up call. King has since made changes in her life to make sure that never happens again, and also made sure to apologize to Dolly Parton… even writing her a letter.

Dolly was as understanding and forgiving as could be, saying that Elle “felt worse than anybody ever could,” and it was clear that the country music legend didn’t take the fiasco personally at all, saying:

“Elle is really a great artist, she’s a great girl. And she’s been going through a lot of hard things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink. So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ‘cuz she felt worse than anybody ever could.”

Now, almost two years removed from the Dolly Parton tribute incident, it truly seems like Elle King is moving on and getting over the dark moment. And everyone else involved – Dolly Parton, the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman – also seem to be leaving King’s drunken episode behind.

I mean, who hasn’t had one too many from time to time? For most of us, it’s just not in front of a big audience. One moment like that doesn’t define your career… here’s to moving on.

You can hear more from Elle King in the interview with Bunnie XO below:

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