Dolly Parton finally spoke out over Elle King’s contentious performance on the Grand Ole Opry stage.
The Country Music Hall of Fame inductee shared her opinions about King’s performance on January 19 in a recent interview with Extra. Elle is a very exceptional artist. What a wonderful child she is. Regarding the performance, Parton stated, “She just had a little too much to drink. She’s been going through a lot of hard things lately.”
When King came on stage during the Grand Ole Opry’s tribute event for the “9 to 5” singer’s 78th birthday back in January, she said she was “f–king hammered” and that she had forgotten the words to Parton’s song “Marry Me.”
“So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, because she felt worse than anybody ever could,” Parton told fans in an interview, extending support and forgiveness to the “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” singer.
In response to a complaint from an unhappy audience member, the Grand Ole Opry apologized to X after King’s performance, stating, “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.” King has not yet made a public statement on the event.
King canceled many engagements soon after the Grand Ole Opry appearance, including a gig at renowned dance club Billy Bob’s Texas.
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Come Get Your Wife, King’s debut country album, was released in 2023 and included the Dierks Bentley song “Worth a Shot.” King has two No. 1 Country Airplay hits, “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert and “Different for Girls” with Bentley, in addition to her 2015 Billboard Hot 100 song “Ex’s & Oh’s.”
While all of this is going on, Parton is promoting her Duncan Hines baking line and commemorating the 40th anniversary of “Jolene,” one of her iconic songs from 1973. Nine new tracks are included in the deluxe edition of her Rockstar album, which she recently released.
