{"id":83702,"date":"2024-05-17T09:05:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/05\/17\/elle-king-breaks-silence-on-drunk-dolly-parton-tribute-that-had-her-just-sobbing-on-the-floor-what-have-i-done\/"},"modified":"2024-05-17T09:05:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:05:28","slug":"elle-king-breaks-silence-on-drunk-dolly-parton-tribute-that-had-her-just-sobbing-on-the-floor-what-have-i-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/05\/17\/elle-king-breaks-silence-on-drunk-dolly-parton-tribute-that-had-her-just-sobbing-on-the-floor-what-have-i-done\/","title":{"rendered":"Elle King Breaks Silence on Drunk Dolly Parton Tribute That Had Her \u2018Just Sobbing\u2019 on the Floor: \u2018What Have I\u00a0Done?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tElle King<\/a> was not supposed to even be on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in January to pay tribute to her idol Dolly Parton. Talking about the viral incident for the first time, the \u201cDrunk\u201d singer told comedian Chelsea Handler on this week\u2019s episode of her Dear Chelsea<\/a><\/em> podcast that she filled-in at the last minute for an unnamed headliner who backed out just hours before the event due to a huge snowstorm that day.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Elle<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tElle King Returns to the Stage for First Performances Following Dolly Parton Tribute\u00a0Backlash\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tWhen King \u2014 who said she hadn\u2019t eaten or slept in days \u2014 was pressed into service to sing during the event, she said she did a \u201cbig no-no\u2026 I not only cussed on stage, hammered at the Grand Ole Opry, but it was Dolly Parton\u2019s birthday, and it was the Opry was doing a Dolly Parton tribute.\u201d King said she had not talked about it yet because she \u201chad to just chill\u201d for a while.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter nailing a \u201cf\u2013king perfect\u201d cover of \u201cJolene\u201d during the first of the two planned gigs in tribute to Parton on the singer\u2019s 78th birthday on Jan. 19, King went into a profanity-laced tirade<\/a> at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium during the second show after taking \u201cone shot too many,\u201d telling the crowed she was \u201cf\u2013king hammered\u201d while trying to cover Dolly\u2019s \u201cMarry Me.\u201d When she struggled to remember the lyrics, King sang, \u201cI don\u2019t give a s\u2013t\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t know they lyrics to these things in this f\u2013king town\u2026 Don\u2019t tell Dolly \u2019cause it\u2019s her birthday.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe singer also berated the crowd, telling them, \u201cI\u2019m not even gonna lie. That\u2019s a b-side for ya. I\u2019m not even gonna f\u2013kin\u2019 lie. Y\u2019all bought tickets for this s\u2013t? you ain\u2019t getting your money back\u2026 I\u2019ll tell you one thing more. Hi, my name is Elle King and I\u2019m f\u2013king hammered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKing told Handler that she had been going through \u201csomething very heavy and traumatic\u201d in her life at the time. \u201cAnd that day was a really big day dealing with what I was going through and that I\u2019m still going through,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cAnd I suffer from severe PTSD; I take one shot too many, and I\u2019m just not there in my body, I\u2019m not there. I don\u2019t remember it. All I remember \u2014 I don\u2019t even remember what I said. I know now what I said.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the curtain came down on her, King said she was \u201ctotally 100 percent disassociated,\u201d and the next thing she can remember was her on the floor of her dressing room, \u201cjust sobbing, like, \u2018What have I done?\u2019\u201d In the wake of the performance, King rescheduled<\/a> a series of planned gigs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRegardless of what was going on in her life at the time \u2014 which, by the way, King said she doesn\u2019t feel obligated to explain to \u201canybody in the f\u2013king world\u201d \u2014 the singer knows it doesn\u2019t excuse the fact that \u201cmaybe I shouldn\u2019t have f\u2013king been drinking\u2026 This is like a sacred stage and I f\u2013ked up. So, for all the people who are asking for an apology from me, hey, if you were there that night and I didn\u2019t get a chance to say I\u2019m sorry to you, I apologize.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tMortified by what happened, King said she hand-wrote an apology letter to the Opry, as well as to Parton, who called her a few days later and offered, \u201cproof that angels exist. She just gave me really kind words and told me, \u2018Well, Dolly\u2019s not mad at you, why should the world be?,’\u201d which made King laugh. \u201cThat\u2019s the kindness from women, you know? That\u2019s the stuff that I\u2019ve received that I\u2019ll never forget, ever. Because I wanted to f\u2013king die. I had to remove myself from the population for a while because it just\u2026 wasn\u2019t getting any better.\u201d Parton also advised her fans in a message to \u201cforgive and forget<\/a>\u201d in the wake of the backlash against King. <\/p>\n

\n\tEven after she posted an apology online for the incident, King said trolls online called her an \u201cunfit mother\u201d and said she should \u201csurrender\u201d her two-year-old son, Lucky Levi, as well as suggesting she should harm herself. But after some reflection, King said the incident has motivated her to make some changes, which have helped her become a stronger person. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not grateful for it, but at the same time, I can find a silver lining in literally anything,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m going to choose to use this as a tool to not defeat me, but to make me, hopefully, a better person, and I can learn from my mistakes.\u201d If nothing else, now she said she doesn\u2019t drink before getting on stage and she\u2019s playing the best gigs of her career.<\/p>\n

\n\tKing also talked about trying to fit into the country world, saying that at first she felt like an outsider after boot-scooting to Nashville following a more pop-leaning early career. \u201cThey didn\u2019t try to kick me out for a while. I feel like country was pretty warm and welcoming to me and they still are,\u201d King said. \u201cI think a lot of the people in the country world are rebels in a lot of ways, which I kind of related to\u2026 where I felt very not at home or comfortable in the pop world because I\u2019m was like this thick b\u2013ch. And people were kind of mean and drinking green drinks and I\u2019m like, \u2018I like to get s\u2013tfaced!’\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tListen to the interview below (Parton tribute talk begins at 18-minute mark).<\/p>\n

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