Elle King wasn't even supposed to be on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in January to pay tribute to her idol Dolly Parton. Speaking about the viral incident for the first time, the “Drunk” singer told comedian Chelsea Handler on this week's episode. Dear Chelsea podcast that filled in at the last minute for an unnamed headliner who backed out a few hours before the event due to a massive snowstorm that day.
When King — who said she hadn't eaten or slept in days — was pressed to sing during the event, she said she made a “big no… I wasn't just cursing on stage, I was cursing at the Grand Ole Opry, but it was Dolly Parton's birthday and it was the Opry doing a Dolly Parton tribute.” King said he hadn't talked about it yet because he “had to relax” for a while.
After nailing a “f–king perfect” cover of “Jolene” during the first of two planned tribute concerts for Parton on what would have been the singer's 78th birthday on Jan. 19, King went on a rant at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium during the second show after taking “one shot too many”, telling guests he was “f–king hammered” while trying to cover Dolly's “Marry Me”. As he struggled to remember the lyrics, King sang, “I don't give as–t” and “I don't know they are lyrics to these things in this f–king town… Don't tell Dolly 'cause it's her birthday .”
The singer also scolded the crowd, telling them, “I won't even lie. This is a view for you. I'm not even going to lie. Did you buy tickets for this s–t? you won't get your money back… I'll tell you one more thing. Hi, my name is Elle King and I'm f–king hammered.”
King told Handler that at the time she was going through “something very heavy and traumatic” in her life. “And that day was a really big day for what I was going through and what I'm still going through,” he said. “And I suffer from severe PTSD. I take one too many, and I'm just not there in my body, I'm not there. I do not remember it. Everything I remember — I don't even remember what I said. I know now what I said.”
When the curtain fell on her, King said they were “totally 100 percent disconnected” and the next thing she remembers was being on the floor of her dressing room, “just bucking, like, 'What did I do?'” In the wake of the performance, King rescheduled a number of scheduled concerts.
Regardless of what was going on in her life at the time — which, incidentally, King said she doesn't feel obligated to explain to “anyone in the f—king world” — the singer knows it doesn't excuse the fact that “maybe I shouldn't have drink the f–king… This is like a sacred stage and I started. So, for all the people who are apologizing to me, if you were there that night and I didn't get a chance to apologize to you, I apologize.”
Saddened by what happened, King said she hand-wrote an apology to the Opry, as well as to Parton, who called her a few days later and offered her “proof that angels exist. He just gave me a really nice word and said, “Well, Dolly's not mad at you, why should the world be?”, which made King laugh. “That's the kindness from women, you know? These are the things I have received and will never, ever forget. Because I wanted the king to die. I had to withdraw from the population for a while, because it just… it wasn't getting any better.'' Parton also advised her fans in a message to “forgive and forget” following the backlash against King.
Even after posting an online apology for the incident, King said online trolls called her an “unfit mother” and told her she should “hand over” her two-year-old son, Lucky Levi, as well as suggesting she do harm to herself. But after some reflection, King said the incident motivated her to make some changes that helped her become a stronger person.
“I'm not grateful for it, but at the same time, I can find a silver lining in literally anything,” he said. “I'm going to choose to use it as a tool not to beat me, but to hopefully make me a better person and I can learn from my mistakes.” If anything, she's now said she doesn't drink before going on stage and is playing the best gigs of her career.
King also talked about trying to fit into the country world, saying she initially felt like an outsider after scootering to Nashville after a more mainstream career. “They didn't try to kick me out for a while. I feel like the country was pretty warm and welcoming to me and still is,” King said. “I think a lot of the people in the country world are rebellious in a lot of ways, which I kind of related to… where I felt very much not at home or comfortable in the pop world because I was so fat — ch. And people were kind of mean and they were drinking green drinks and I'm like, 'I like to have faces!'”
Listen to the interview below (Parton's tribute speech starts at the 18-minute mark).
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/elle-king-talks-drunk-dolly-parton-tribute-first-time-handler-1235685957/
