Elle King sings that she’s “banned from the Grand Ole Opry” in a new video after her controversial Dolly Parton tribute at the beginning of the year.
King played a guitar as she delivered her rendition of “Banned From The Grand Ole Opry” in a video she shared on Instagram on Wednesday (December 25). King referenced her tribute to Parton, the backlash, and dropped names of some other legendary artists — including Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash — in the lyrics of the song. She wrote in her caption: “Oops 🩷 love you [Dolly Parton] love you [Opry].”
King was part of the Opry Goes Dolly tribute show to celebrate Parton’s 78th birthday on January 19. The Opry show took place at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Videos circulated of King performing Parton’s “Marry Me,” appearing to forget the lyrics on stage. King also appeared drunk and used foul language, including saying that she was “f***ing hammered,” and “holy s***, don’t tell Dolly.” The Grand Ole Opry apologized in response to a commenter on X, formerly Twitter, who said King “ruined the night”: “...we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.” Though it's unclear whether King was officially banned from the Opry, she has not performed on the legendary show since the tribute to Parton earlier this year.
The following month, Parton shared her reaction to King’s performance. Parton said in an interview with Extra: “Elle is really a great artist. She’s a great girl, and she’s been going through a lot of hard things lately. And she just had a little too much to drink. So, let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on because she felt worse than anybody ever could.”
King, who postponed performances after the Opry show, has since opened up about the tribute. She spoke about it on an episode of Dear Chelsea, a podcast hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler, including stating that she “was mortified,” and penned handwritten apologies to Parton and to the Grand Ole Opry. She added on Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe that she feels “like I'm a different person” after she’s had “to heal and deal and go through things” after the Opry show.
King has since returned to performing and announced that she’s pregnant with Baby No. 2.