Elle King recalls the 'heavy and traumatic' day before the Drunk Dolly Parton tribute show

Elle King offered the most detailed account of her disastrous performance at the Grand Ole Opry's Dolly Parton tribute earlier this year — and the incredible kindness Parton showed her afterward — to Chelsea Handler's Dear Chelsea podcast.

By King's own admission, she did a “big no-no” at the January concert: “She crashed on stage, banged” at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and appeared to forget the lyrics to Parton's “Marry Me.” While King posted a brief statement about the matter on Instagram in March, she noted to Handler that she hadn't spoken about it publicly because she needed to take time and “just chill.”

As King explained, she got the call to perform at Parton's tribute at the last minute after the scheduled headliner pulled out due to a snowstorm. While accepting the gig, he said that day was already difficult.

“I was going through something very heavy and traumatic in my life at the time,” he said. “And that day was a really big day for what I was going through, and I'm still going through, and I suffer from severe PTSD. That day, I hadn't eaten, I hadn't slept in days, and I was really depressed. I was like a shell of myself.”

Parton's tribute included an early show and a late show, and King said her performance of “Jolene” at the first concert was “perfect.” But after that, she took “one shot too many” and was suddenly out of her body. He said he barely remembered the show, let alone what he said on stage at the time.

“I know now what I said,” King continued. “I was like, 'I'm Elle King and I'm fucking hammered'. And the curtain fell on me — I got flashes. And then I was completely, 100 percent disconnected. Once I cut to the dressing room, I fell on the floor crying, 'What did I do?' And then the next day it was everywhere.”

King said she was “heartbroken” after the performance and that she had handwritten apologies to both the Grand Ole Opry and Parton. She said Parton called her a few days later, adding of the country legend, “It's just proof that angels exist. He just said very nice words to me and said, “Well, Dolly isn't mad at you, why should the world be?” And it made me laugh. This is kindness from women. These are the things I have received and will never forget, because I wanted to die. I had to withdraw from the population for a while because it wasn't getting any better.”

Reflecting on the incident, King was adamant that she didn't feel compelled to explain what was going on in her life that day, but stated flatly: “I also don't think it excuses the fact that maybe they shouldn't have been fucking drunk. This is a sacred scene, and I laughed at it.”

King concluded by noting her ability to “find the silver lining in anything” and that she used that experience “as a tool not to beat me, but to hopefully make me a better person.” He said he no longer drinks before going on stage, adding: “And it's the best shows I've ever played and I'm proud to say that.”