Elle King Recalls ‘High Level of Pain’ She Was in at Time of Drunk Dolly Parton Performance

Elle King is opening up about her drunken performance at the Dolly Parton birthday show at the Grand Oly Opry in January. 

In the latest episode of the Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristow podcast, King reflected on the moment, which she said came during a period of pain. 

“After everything that happened in January, I went to a different type of therapeutic program,” the 35-year-old songstress said. “I was very sad, and nobody really knows what I was going through behind closed doors. I just took that as like ‘A. If it wasn’t this it was going to be something else and B. I had to heal and deal and go through things.'” 

King shared that she spoke to someone, who told her that there would be a silver lining after the incident, but she didn’t see it at the time. Today, she feels like the incident created a space for growth. 

“I couldn’t go on living my life, or even staying in the situation that I had been going through,” she said. “I couldn’t continue to be existing in that high level of pain that I was going through at the time. I feel like Dolly Parton, she just delivered me this opportunity for growth.”

Amid the backlash, King said that she waited until she was in a better space to speak out about it. 

“I waited to talk about everything until I had better footing,” she said. “Because I was not OK.” 

Now, she revealed that she has done the work and is getting better. 

“If anything, I’m much more me now than I have been in the last 20 years,” she said. 

In January, the “Jersey Giant” songstress took the stage inside of the legendary Ryman Auditorium, where she declared she was “f**king hammered” and flubbed her way through a cover of Parton’s “Marry Me.” 

Following the performance, fans took to social media to share their dismay with King’s behavior and the Opry released an apology. King also went on to cancel a series of performances.

In May, King spoke out about the performance for the first time and revealed that she sent handwritten letters apologizing to Parton and the Opry.

“I was mortified,” King said on the iHeartMedia Dear Chelsea podcast . “I handwrote an apology letter to the Opry. I handwrote an apology letter to Dolly.”

King said that Parton responded with kindness. 

“She just gave me really kind words and told me, ‘Well, Dolly’s not mad at you. Why should the world be?'” King recalled. “[She] made me laugh. That’s the kindness from women.”

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