Rishika Shahi
Elle King has opened up about her emotional journey following a controversial performance at a Dolly Parton tribute concert, where she was heavily intoxicated. In a candid interview, King reflected on the incident and expressed how it has led her to become “the best version of myself now.” The singer acknowledges the challenges she faced leading up to the performance and how she has turned that experience into a catalyst for personal growth and change.
The Incident at the Grand Ole Opry
During the tribute concert for Dolly Parton’s 78th birthday, King struggled with her performance after consuming too much alcohol. She admitted to cursing on stage and forgetting lyrics, leading to a mortifying experience that went viral. This incident prompted her to take a step back and reflect on her actions.
“Since last year, if anything was going wrong or something pissed me off, my manager would say, ‘High Road 2024,’ and that was our theme of like, ‘Take the f—ing high road, bitch. Be the person that you would hope that you could be through any situation,'” King, 35, says of the track’s inspiration. “And it’s just been a phrase that we’ve used.”
“We do this all the time: I’ll write a song and then we’ll play it on tour, and most of the time, it doesn’t make the record,” says King, who’s putting the finishing touches on her next album, a follow-up to 2023’s Come Get Your Wife. “But now, I’ve been writing these songs that all tell a story and they’re funny, but it’s got more of a classic country feel, which is my favorite stuff. It’s all the stuff that I listen to. And a lot of the record has all of these nods of my favorite things about the country, which is sort of funny storytelling, but also there’s realness to it and makes you laugh or it makes you feel something.”
King adds: “We’ve been lucky enough to get to open for Willie Nelson a couple of times, and I’ve gotten to sing with him. I’m not trying to make a Willie Nelson record, but at the same time, his music and all of that ’70s country music has really been so impactful and influential on my storytelling and my music.”
A Journey of Self-Discovery
Following the incident, King reached out to Dolly Parton with heartfelt apologies. To her surprise, Parton responded with kindness and understanding, reassuring King that everyone makes mistakes. This supportive gesture had a profound impact on King’s healing process.
King revealed that she had been dealing with personal struggles, including PTSD, which contributed to her decision to drink excessively before the performance. She emphasized the importance of accountability and has since made significant changes in her life, including abstaining from alcohol before shows.
“Try having something bad you did go f—ing viral — that was pretty hard,” King says about the incident, claiming that it occurred when she was going through a “high level of pain” in her life.. “I never thought that a single human being would ever buy a ticket to my show again. But they do.”
Now on the road for her Baby Daddy’s Weekend tour, King feels more confident and content than ever. She credits her family for their support during this transformative period and expresses pride in being the best version of herself. King’s new single “High Road” reflects this positive outlook and serves as an anthem for resilience and self-improvement.
King grateful about her family support
King’s family has been her pillar of support ever since the incident: her partner Daniel Tooker and their 3-year-old kid Lucky. “I’m doing things that make me proud of myself,” she says. “I’ve got a small son. He’s going to find out about all this one day, and he’s going to see that I tried to be just the best version of myself, and I used it to make myself better, and I did. It’s more of a love story of self than anything.”She continues.
“I’m very happy, I’m very content, which is nice, and I don’t know if I’ve ever really felt that, so it’s a blessing … This is worth all the effort in the world. My family, this is what deserves all the energy and effort. All this other s— is just a plus.”She remarks gratefully.
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