Dolly Parton only has “Real Love” for Elle King after the younger country star admitted to being “hammered” during a tribute concert in honor of Parton’s 78th birthday last month.
“Elle is a really 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,” Parton said in an interview with ExtraTV published Friday.
“So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on because she felt worse than anybody ever could,” Parton added.
King made headlines after she slurred her words, forgot lyrics and cussed onstage during the performance at Nashville’s iconic Grand Ole Opry, alongside other artists.
During the show, King forgot the lyrics to Parton’s song “Marry Me” and altered the words to say “I don’t give a s---” and “I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this f---ing town. … Don’t tell Dolly, ’cause it’s her birthday.”
At one point she said, “Hi, my name is Elle King and I’m f---ing hammered.”
The Opry apologized for the incident, writing on X afterward: “We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night’s second Opry performance.”
One week after the controversial performance, King rescheduled five of her shows without explanation.