The Grand Ole Opry hosted a tribute concert for Dolly Parton last month to celebrate her 78th birthday. Unfortunately the event ended up making headlines for all the wrong reasons. When Elle King took to the stage she forgot lyrics, started swearing (a big no-no at the Opry), and admitted “I’m f–king hammered.” It wasn’t good. The venue took to Twitter to apologize to the concert goers, others piled on to slam Elle online, and yet more chatter poured in to harangue the people slamming Elle. Up until now we haven’t heard a reaction from Dolly. Now that she has chimed in, she’s showing nothing but kindness to Elle, and asking for others to do the same:
Dolly Parton will always love Elle King.
The country music legend recently broke her silence on the “Exes and Ohs” singer’s drunken performance at a star-studded tribute concert held in celebration of Dolly’s 78th birthday.
“Elle is really a great artist, she’s a great girl,” Dolly told ExtraTV in an interview published Feb. 9. “She’s been going through a lot of things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink.”
Encouraging others to lead with kindness as well, she added, “So let’s just forgive that and forget that and move on ‘cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”
The “Jolene” singer’s understanding words arrived less than a month after Elle confessed to being “f–king hammered” when she messed up the lyrics to Dolly’s 2001 hit “Marry Me” onstage at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. After stumbling her way through some of the lines, the 34-year-old proceeded to sing, “I don’t know the lyrics to this thing in this f–king town/ Don’t tell Dolly ‘cause it’s her birthday.”
Elle later quipped, “I’m not even gonna f–king lie, you bought tickets for this s–t? You ain’t getting your money back.”
In the aftermath of her concert blunder, the iconic country music hall — which operates on a strict no-profanity rule — issued an apology on X, expressing “deep regret” for “the language that was used” during the “America’s Sweetheart” singer’s Jan. 19 performance.
Elle — who has yet to publicly comment on the incident but did postpone a series of shows six days later — has previously spoken about her complicated relationship with alcohol.
“I get nervous before I go on stage,” she told the San Diego Union-Tribune in February 2022. “I have couple of drinks [first]. Drinking makes me less nervous about hitting the notes when I sing. If I don’t make them, it won’t sting as much.”
There’s no sugarcoating that this was a low moment for Elle King. In a way, though, you could say she is very lucky it happened at an event for Dolly Parton. Not because Dolly deserves it, not that at all! But because of how gracious and encouraging a spirit Dolly is. She was generous to Jessica Simpson after Jessica stumbled while performing “9 to 5” at the Kennedy Center Honors, so it’s no surprise she’s being just as kind to Elle. As to that pre-show ritual Elle described, of drinking to subdue her nerves, that system cannot hold. I hope she is taking time now to seek out new methods of coping that are supportive instead of self-destructive. I bet Dolly herself would happily speak with Elle — without being preachy! — about sustaining a career in their industry and being good to yourself. Even I would wake up at 3-7am for that conversation with Dolly. (Ok fine, I’d probably just stay up from the night before. And show up with boxes of Dolly’s Duncan Hines cakes to bake. You get the point.)
Photos credit: Tina Rowden/Netflix, Rachpoot/BauerGriffin/INSTARimages, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
Dolly is grace and class personified.
What Dolly did should be a given. I would. We should all behave like the lovely Dolly.
Dolly Parton has always been an exemplar of grace and kindness. She truly lives the Golden Rule. I think that is why she has succeeded in so many genres of music. People respond to her personally and invite her into their hearts.
Dolly proving again why she is a true and gracious Queen
“The Grand Ole Opry hosted a tribute concert for Dolly Parton last month to celebrate her 78th birthday.”
Dolly Parton’s birthday is January 19. So was the tribute concert. I like Dolly. I like what she’s done for literacy, the LGBTQ+ community, how she handles herself with grace and pokes fun at her appearance.
However, I think that Dolly was not happy at all with Elle King! And she let her know this by being gracious almost a month later.
I would never question Dolly’s timing. She probably thought Elle needed some time to think about her behavior and experience some personal growth before Dolly “forgave and forgot”. It would make the lesson more meaningful.
ML, the interview was PUBLISHED on February 9. We don’t know when Dolly actually talked to the reporter. Stop putting words or thoughts on Dolly that she didn’t say. She says what she says with no hidden agenda.
Um, Elle King got trashed, performed poorly and then “got trashed” by people online and in the media for her poor performance. Dolly hadn’t reacted publicly until that article. She is gracious, I am not denying that, Bumblebee. However, you don’t wait that long to respond publicly knowing the hate that Elle received unless there’s a reason for it. To be clear, I am no Elle King fan or supporting her.
We can’t buy Dolly’s cake mixes in Canada.
It’s a small thing, but it kinda breaks me heart a bit.
I love Dolly, I saw 9-5 in theatre! I’m aging myself but I thought office work was so glamorous. I set up an office at home, used the phone book (ugh! Paper phonebooks) as my “office work”.
Kill them with kindness, Dolly! She’s a true professional and all around great human being.
I hope Elle King’s silence is due to her being in rehab. Dolly is a treasure. So gracious.
Been in that spot myself, and I really hope Elle is finding a better way of coping, and of caring for herself.
(Rehab isn’t always the answer, folks.)
Alright I’m officially humbled by Dolly.She’s a treasure.Today and one day at a time I’m going to try to be more like Dolly !
Weightloss drugs and drinking DO NOT MIX. Weightloss drugs effect either your stomach or your brain. It can dull or enhance nerve endings. In elle’s case she seems like a character in general. The video has her doing a fake country accent. However, if she is on any meds she may want to lower the dose.
Dolly is so kind. I hope Elle is OK and gets help if she’s struggling.
I love this — I love the class plus the subtle shade.
If you have that much performance anxiety, maybe you should get treatment for it and maybe not perform, at least, until you’ve got it treated?
Dolly is national treasure. ❤️
Love Dolly
This is a perfect response. She wasn’t dismissing it as no big deal. You can tell Dolly was pissed too (cringe if you’re Elle), but she’s moving on and wants us to too. The videos were awful. I would be so embarrassed if it was me.
There is no situation Dolly couldn’t handle with aplomb and kindness.
Dolly Parton made $20 million and counting from just that Bodyguard song. She’s such a powerhouse. I’m amazed at her zest for life and for doing things. Very interesting woman.
Saw a pic of her with no makeup and she seems like the sweetest librarian or elderly lady next door. Hahaha, that makeup is part of her brand. You would not recognise her normal face – she’s a very naturally pretty woman BTW.