Dolly Parton celebrated her 78th birthday on January 19, so to celebrate, the Grand Ole Opry hosted a tribute concert, dubbed “Opry Goes Dolly,” at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for that night. When it came time for Elle King to take the stage, though, trouble ensued.
As Consequence notes, things when wrong with King attempted to cover Parton’s “Marry Me.” She told the audience, “I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this f*cking town, Don’t tell Dolly ‘cause it’s her birthday.” She also said, “I’m not even gonna f*cking lie… y’all bought tickets for this sh*t, you ain’t getting your money back. And I’m gonna tell you one thing more: Hi, my name is Elle King, I’m f*cking hammered.”
@countryminute Many #CountryMusic fans are upset after #ElleKing appeared inebriated at an Opry Goes Dolly event taking place at the Ryman this weekend. King told the crowd she was drunk before slurring her speech and forgetting the words to Parton’s classic “Marry Me” mid performance. Some fans are concerned. Others feel she disrespected the queen of country. What do you think? #greenscreen#dollyparton#oprygoesdolly
Some attendees took to social media to complain. In response to an Opry tweet about Lauren Alaina being unable to perform as scheduled, a user named Judas wrote, “I wish she would’ve been there because Elle King ruined the night with her horrible, drunk, and profane performance. Dolly Parton would’ve been mortified. For our first time at The Opry, it was a shame we all had to witness that.” The Opry responded, “Hi Judas, we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.”
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
King has yet to publicly address the situation.