Dolly Parton wants Elle King to be forgiven for boozy Opry show
Dolly Parton has insisted she wants Elle King to be forgiven for her boozy performance at Nashville's fabled Grand Ole Opry venue last month when she dropped the F-bomb and told the audience she was drunk during a show commemorating the country legend's 78th birthday
Dolly Parton wants Elle King to be forgiven for her controversial performance at Nashville's fabled Grand Ole Opry venue.
Elle took to the stage last month for a show commemorating the country legend's 78th birthday, but she shocked the crowd by dropping the F-bomb, slurring her words and declaring she was "hammered" - but Dolly is adamant she wants everyone to just "forgive and forget".
Dolly told Extra: "Elle is really a great artist. She's a great girl, and she's been going through of hard things lately.
"She just had a little too much to drink, so let's just forgive that and forget it and move on, cause she felt worse than anyone ever could."
Elle, 34, who is the daughter of actor Rob Schneider, was among the acts who took to the stage for the 'Opry Goes Dolly' show but her performance caused an outcry over the bad language she used on stage while the singer also forgot the words to Dolly's classic hit 'Marry Me'.
At one point, the singer told the audience: "You spent money for this [rubbish]? ... You ain’t getting your money back. I’ll tell you one thing more: "Hi, my name is Elle King [and] I’m ... hammered."
After the show, venue bosses apologised in a message posted on X - formerly known as Twitter - writing: "We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance."
Elle later rescheduled a series of her U.S. shows which had been booked for March.
She has yet to comment on the controversy, but Elle previously admitted she often has a drink before a show to calm her nerves.
In 2022, she told the San Diego Union-Tribune: "I really like to drink and sing. I don’t want to get as drunk as I used to.
"It’s easier for me to say: ‘Yeah, I want to drink and party and [then] go on stage.’ I get nervous before I go on stage, [so] 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."
