Elle King Admits That the Dolly Parton Incident Was Her “Rock Bottom” Moment

Elle King admitted on the Dumb Blonde Podcast that her drunken behavior at the Opry Goes Dolly tribute last year was her “rock bottom.”

Some Dolly fans might remember last year when singer Elle King did a performance that was supposed to be a tribute to Dolly Parton at the Grand Ole Opry, and it ended up being a bit of a mess. On an episode of the Dumb Blonde Podcast with Bunnie Xo, King recently revealed that a lot was going on in her life at the time, and that the slip-up had a lot more to do with her struggle with postpartum depression and a breakup than any hard feelings she has towards the musical legend.

At an Opry Goes Dolly tribute last year, which featured performances of classic Dolly Parton hits from artists like King, Ashley Cooke, and Shaboozey, King had a little too much to drink, and the crowd wasn’t too happy about it. In the middle of a performance of “Marry Me”, a song from Dolly Parton’s 2001 album Little Sparrow, fans knew something was wrong when the singer started slurring her words. Maybe sensing some apprehension from the crowd, King paused mid-performance to let everybody know, “I don’t give a s***!”

“She obviously couldn’t care less about Dolly Parton or herself to act like that at the Grand Ole Opry,” one fan said in the comments of a TikTok showcasing King’s behavior. “This is a disgrace,” another commented.

Postpartum, a Breakup, and “One Shot Too Many”

After the incident went down, King decided to take some time for herself to heal and reflect. She cancelled five scheduled shows and started looking inward after having the moment that she described as “rock bottom” for her. “Honestly, I think I’d come out of postpartum and everything that had accumulated, everything that I had just like sucked onto my life in my depression, all just came to my head,” she admitted to Bunnie Xo.

Elle King has been very open on the internet about her struggles with postpartum, which started after the birth of her son, Lucky, in 2021. In 2023, the singer shared on Instagram what this journey has been like for her and the strides she’s been making since her first pregnancy. “I fell into a very deep depression during my pregnancy, I also didn’t even realize how intense postpartum depression is and was until I very slowly began to crawl out. I felt trapped in my body, I couldn’t even sing. So I started slow.”

Around the time of the Dolly Parton incident, King was also going through a difficult breakup from her partner, Dan Tooker, which she described on the podcast as a dark part of her life she does not wish to revisit. King said that she had played one show earlier that day, and it went “perfect,” but when she got to the Opry, that wasn’t the case. “I just walked back out on that stage, and I had taken one shot too many.”

All in all, Elle King expressed to Bunnie that the situation taught her a lot, and one that she’s grateful to have had the opportunity to grow from. “No one really knew what was going on,” said King. “I’ve learned so much from this experience, and if I can come out of it, literally anyone can. I’ve had so many experiences like that; I hope I have less of those in the future.”