Country music singer Elle King has caused quite the stir online with a performance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
The singer and daughter of Rob Schneider performed at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday (19 January) as part of a show honouring Dolly Parton on her 78th birthday.
While the legendary artist may not have been in attendance on Friday evening, a rendition of one of her songs by King has made some headlines.
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King, 34, was seen slurring her words and dropping a few F-bombs during the set, before the singer admitted that she was 'hammered'. Take a look:
Launching into a chaotic cover of Parton's song 'Marry Me', King said: "I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this f***ing town, don’t tell Dolly ‘cause it’s her birthday."
Addressing the audience, she added: "I’m not even gonna f***ing lie… y’all bought tickets for this s***, you ain’t getting your money back."
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The fact King had been drinking was pretty obvious thanks to numerous videos of her performance that went viral online.
In one particular clip uploaded to TikTok by the user @auctioneergirl, a lot of the audience could be heard laughing at the chaotic set.
But the reaction online has been anything but funny for fans of Parton.
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"The poor girl next to her, trying to pretend it’s all good," one TikTok user penned.
"Never heard of her until this video and I’ve already seen enough." a second added.
While a person on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: "Elle King ruined the night with her horrible, drunk, and profane performance. Dolly Parton would’ve been mortified.
"For our first time at the Opry, it was a shame we all had to witness that… It was such a disappointment to spend $300 on tickets for a show where one of the artists ruined an entire night."
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The venue has since apologized for the performance, penning in a statement: "We deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance."
King has not publicly addressed her performance in a statement or a social media post as of yet.
Stella Parton, Dolly's sister, has weighed in on the debate though - claiming King has insulted Parton fans.
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"I didn’t see nor hear the Grand Ole Opry birthday tribute to my big sister Dolly over the weekend," she wrote on X.
"But some lil girl by the name of Elle King apparently cussed and insulted some of Dolly’s fans by not knowing a song. She did admit to being ‘hammered’ her word not mine."
UNILAD has reached out to King's and Parton's representatives for comment.
Topics: Dolly Parton, Music, Viral
Callum Jones