Elle King Postpones Concerts After Wasted Grand Ole Opry Performance

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | January 25, 2024 |

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | January 25, 2024 |

I know three things about Elle King:

1. She sang “Ex’s and Oh’s” back in 2014. I like that song, even though the apostrophes in its title make zero sense.

2. Her dad is Rob Schneider.

3. This past week, she was absolutely eviscerated for getting “f*cking hammered” at the Grand Ole Opry’s birthday concert for Dolly Parton. Things got so messy, the venue had to shut the curtain on her. Here’s the video.

Honestly? I was a little surprised by the intense backlash Elle faced after getting wasted, forgetting the lyrics to Dolly’s “Marry Me,” putting on a fake country accent, and swearing at the audience over a dozen times. Drunk asshole move? Sure. But we’ve seen far worse from famous musicians. What I didn’t understand was how seriously country fans take the Grand Ole Opry. Even swearing is a big no-no. And I suppose the event being a tribute to the great Dolly Parton upped the ante. One fan went on Twitter to complain about Elle’s “horrible, drunk, and profane performance,” and the Grand Ole Opry apologized for “the language that was used.”

Today, 34-year-old Elle took to her Instagram Stories to announce she was rescheduling five of her upcoming tour dates; four concerts were moved to March, another to September. She wrote, “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.”

NOW. Elle’s relationship with alcohol is none of my business. It’s not like she drove drunk and endangered people’s lives. That said, when a celebrity suffers an embarrassing public incident and then postpones a bunch of shows, it’s hard not to jump to the conclusion that they’re taking some time away to deal with their issues. If that’s what Elle’s doing, good for her. If rescheduling the concerts is completely unrelated? Okie dokie.

In 2022, Elle told the San Diego Tribune that she wanted to stop getting so drunk while performing:

“It’s easier for me to say: ‘Yeah, I want to drink and party and [then] go on stage,’” she said. “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.”

She added that she puts “being a mother way, way, way above having a good time.” Elle has a two-year-old boy, Lucky Levi, with her tattoo artist husband, Daniel Tooker.

Like I wrote above, I only know three things about Elle King. Is she an asshole when she’s off the sauce? I don’t know. But, as someone who has blacked out and done dumb shit more times than I can count before finally getting sober, I can’t help but feel bad about all the hate Elle’s getting. Thank GOD no one has footage of the time I ripped a Savages (2012) poster off the wall of the subway and screamed that I wanted to bang Taylor Kitsch. And then passed out at a McDonald’s and used the poster as a blanket. That shame-hangover was bad enough as it was.