Elle King Postpones Concert After Dolly Parton Tribute Incident

Elle King's Jan. 26 show in Texas has been pushed back eight months amid backlash over her expletive-filled performance during a tribute to Dolly Parton.

By Gabrielle Chung Jan 24, 2024 10:25 PMTags
Watch: Elle King Postpones Concert After Dolly Parton Mishap

It looks like Elle King is taking a break in her 9 to 5.

Amid backlash over her recent profanity-filled tribute to country music legend Dolly Parton, the "Ex's & Oh's" singer's Jan. 26 show in Fort Worth, Texas, has been postponed and rescheduled to Sept. 21.

"Original event tickets will be accepted for the new date," read a Jan. 24 Instagram post from Billy Bob's Texas, the concert hall where King was slated to perform later this week. "Refunds are available at the point of purchase. Thank you for your understanding!"

Neither King or the venue provided a reason to why her performance was pushed back until this fall. According to the Grammy nominee's website, her next show is now scheduled for Feb. 22 at the Blue Gate Performing Arts Center in Shipshewana, Ind.

News of the postponement comes five days after King took the stage at Nashville's iconic Grand Ole Opry, where she performed as part of a concert held in honor of Parton's 78th birthday. As seen in video circulating on social media, King—who is the daughter of exes Rob Schneider and London King—admitted to not knowing the words to Parton's 2001 hit "Marry Me," telling the crowd in a sing-song voice, "I don't know the lyrics to this thing in this f--king town."

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Dolly Parton and Carl Dean's Love Story

"Don't tell Dolly," she added. "Holy s--t. I swear if any of you guys tell Dolly."

After finishing the song with her own improvised lyrics, the 34-year-old addressed the audience once more and said, "Hi, my name is Elle King. I'm f--king hammered."

And though Parton was not at the concert, that didn't stop her fans from taking their grievances online. 

 

Manny Hernandez/Wireimage

"How disrespectful," one wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Not only to Dolly, but to every single person who has walked on that stage. I seriously cannot even believe it."

Another X user added, "I'm disappointed in the @opry for allowing an intoxicated and disrespectful performance by Elle King in failure of honoring the great Dolly Parton. I was hesitant to put this out, but I love country music to my core. Where has Country Music gone? It's unrecognizable."

In response, the Grand Ole Opry issued a statement on Jan. 20, reading: "We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance."  

E! News has reached out to King's rep for comment but hasn't heard back.

For a look back at Parton's decades-long career, keep reading.

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