opinion
Country music legend Dolly Parton has spoken out in defense of singer Elle King following her humiliating Grand Ole Opry drunken incident.
Barton defends the king
During Parton's 78th birthday celebration at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last month, King took the stage to perform Parton's song “Marry Me.” It quickly became clear that King, 34, didn't know all the lyrics to the song, and she even admitted to the audience that she had been “bad beat up.”
In the weeks since, King has received a lot of backlash over the incident, but Parton is now speaking out to defend the younger singer and let her fans know it's time to let her off the hook.
“Elle is really a great artist,” Parton told Extra. “She's a great girl, and she's been through some tough things lately.”
She added: “She drank too much, so let's forgive that and forget it and move on, because she felt worse than everyone else.”
Check out Parton's full comments on this in the video below.
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The Drunken King performed on the Grand Ole Opry
People magazine reported that during the Grand Ole Opry concert on January 19, King was seen having various exchanges with audience members about refunds on TikToks that quickly went viral. She was apparently singing unintelligibly at one point before improvising her own lines about not knowing the words to “Marry Me.”
“I don't know the words to this stuff in this damned city,” King sang. “Don't tell Dolly because it's her birthday.”
“Everybody's like, 'Holy—, we bought tickets to this—' 'Holy—' King said after the song, putting her hands in her pockets. I won't even lie. You bought tickets for this-?”
After King told fans they “won't get your money back”, one responded, saying: “I don't want to.”
“Good, because you don’t get it,” King replied.
One audience member claimed that King swore on stage “about 15 times” and “forgot the words to the Dolly song she was supposed to sing.”
“I'll tell you something else. Hello, my name is Elle King and I'm in shock,” King concluded before mercifully exiting.
The Grand Ole Opry later issued an apology after a social media user said King “ruined the night with her terrible, drunken, profane performance,” calling it “a shame we all had to witness that.”
“Hi Judah, we are deeply sorry and apologize for the language used during Opry's second performance last night,” Aubrey responded.
Learn more about this in the video below.
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The king admits to being drunk
King has not commented publicly on the incident, but she has rescheduled some concerts in the weeks since. She has previously admitted that she has been drunk in the past.
“It's easier for me to say: Yes, I want to drink and party [then] “I get on stage,” she said in 2022. “I feel nervous before I go on stage, [so] I have two drinks [first]. Drinking makes me less nervous about hitting notes when I sing. If I didn't make it, it wouldn't hurt as much.
Parton is a classy lady, and she always takes the high road, so it's no surprise that she's coming to King's defense in the wake of this embarrassing incident. Do you agree that it's time to forgive King and forget her mistake? Let us know in the comments section.
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