Grand Ole Opry apologises for “hammered” Elle King botching Dolly Parton tribute performance

Nashville, Tennessee’s Grand Ole Opry has issued an apology after a “fucking hammered” Elle King threw a wrench in the venue’s family-friendly Dolly Parton tribute concert in honour of her 78th birthday.

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On Friday night (January 19), Grand Ole Opry hosted the Parton-themed tribute concert, which featured performances from Elle King, Terri Clark, Tigirlily Gold, Ashley Monroe, Dailey and Vincent among others.

However, instead of the focus being on honouring country icon Dolly Parton, Elle King has made headlines for blundering her performance while being admittedly “fucking hammered”, which resulted in a cascade of complaints of the performance being “disrespectful” and demands for refunds.

As seen in footage posted online following the gig, King’s cover of ‘Marry Me’ took a turn for the worse when she forgot the lyrics to the track and began telling those in attendance that she was intoxicated, adding in a few expletives that upset the all-ages crowd.

@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 – Victoria

“I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this fucking town,” King said mid-performance. “Don’t tell Dolly ‘cus it’s her birthday. I’m not even gonna fucking lie… y’all bought tickets for this shit, you ain’t getting you’re money back. And I’m gonna tell you one thing more: Hi, my name is Elle King, I’m fucking hammered.”

At a different point during her stint onstage, a member of her band suggested that King perform one of her songs. She responded: “I can barely play another person’s song, let me see if I can play one of mine.”

Fans and attendees took to X to voice their displeasure at the “disrespectful” performance, with one user writing: “The @opry is one of the few pure things left in this world. Elle King did one of the most disrespectful things you can do to that stage.”

Another wrote: “elle king. how disrespectful. not only to dolly, but to every single person who has walked on that stage. i seriously cannot even believe it.”

The Grand Ole Opry has since responded to one user, apologising for the incident. “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance,” it wrote.

Hi Judas, we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.

— Grand Ole Opry (@opry) January 20, 2024

At the time of publishing, Elle King – comedian Rob Schneider’s daughter – has yet to comment on the incident.