Elle King postpones 5 shows after botching Dolly Parton tribute at Grand Ole Opry
Elle King appears to be taking a break from her tour in the wake of her drunken performance at the Grand Ole Opry last week.
The “Ex’s & Oh’s” singer has postponed five shows, including one that was set for Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday.
“Your tickets will be valid for the new dates. If you can’t make the new date, refunds are available at the point of purchase. See you there,” read a Thursday announcement on the singer’s Instagram story.
Billy Bob’s Texas on Wednesday announced that the Fort Worth show set for Friday would be rescheduled to Sept. 21, but the venue did not give a reason for the last-minute change.
In addition to the Billy Bob’s show, the affected February concerts include King’s appearances in Shipshewana, Ind.; Waukegan, Ill., and two shows in Harris, Mich. Those concerts have been rescheduled to March 21, 22, 29 and 30, respectively.
King will return to the stage on March 1 during the Extra Innings Festival in Tempe, Ariz., according to her official tour website.
Representatives for King did not provide further comment when reached Friday by The Times.
Elle King said she was ‘hammered’ when she slurred through Dolly Parton’s birthday show, prompting the Grand Ole Opry to apologize. Parton’s sister took note.
The postponements, however, come on the heels of King’s performance during Dolly Parton’s family-friendly 78th birthday tribute in Nashville last Friday. The “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” singer took the Ryman Auditorium stage to perform Parton’s “Marry Me,” but slurred her words and admitted to forgetting the lyrics — an affront to many concertgoers and social media users.
“Hi, my name is Elle King. I’m f— hammered,” the 34-year-old told the audience after she struggled to get through the performance, according to a clip shared on TikTok. Several other clips of the cringe-inducing appearance made the rounds on social media, showing King improvising the lyrics during the inscrutable delivery.
“I don’t know the lyrics to this thing in this f— town,” King said. “Don’t tell Dolly, ’cause it’s her birthday.”
King, the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider, also repeatedly swore onstage and joked with the crowd about her performance, telling them, “You ain’t getting your money back.”
As her appearance went viral, observers likened King’s showing to “drunken karaoke” and raised other concerns, prompting the Grand Ole Opry to issue an apology to one disappointed concertgoer online.
“[W]e deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance,” the vaunted program tweeted.
Dolly Parton tucks three more Guinness World Records under her belt, bringing her to 10. She feels ‘humbled’ each time she breaks a new record.
Parton has not said much about King’s performance — although her younger sister Stella did.
“When you disrespect someone in my family you have disrespected every one of us,” Stella Parton tweeted Tuesday, in defense of her original remarks about King from Monday.
“I choose to speak up on my own personal platforms because it’s my prerogative. I know a lot about being disrespected in the music industry. However, I no longer stay silent when I see people behaving badly,” she continued. “The bottom line is this, if you’re lucky enough to stand before a paying audience give them your best or get off the stage. I don’t buy the lame weak excuse of getting ‘hammered’ to get out there. The fans pay our wages FYI. They sometimes sacrifice to do so.”
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