Elle King Reflects On Being 'Banned From The Grand Ole Opry' In New Track

Following a controversial start to the year after an infamous performance at the Grand Ole Opry in January, Elle King has reflected on the experience with a new track fittingly titled Banned From The Grand Ole Opry.

The track, which King performed on social media just days ago, references her onstage behaviour at the Opry (otherwise known as Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium) on January 19th as part of their Opry Goes Dolly tribute to Dolly Parton.

Scheduled to cover Parton’s Jolene and Marry Me, the performance quickly went off the rails, with King forgetting the lyrics to the song. “Hi, my name is Elle King, I’m fucking hammered,” she admitted to the audience.

The Opry itself even responded to the incident and the choice language at what was meant to be a family-friendly event, though Parton herself was rather dismissive of the whole affair.

“Elle is a really great artist. She’s a great girl. She’s been going through a lot of hard things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink,” Parton said in February. “So let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anybody ever could.”

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Now, King’s new song is a confessional account of the incident, showing contrition and reflection in regard to the controversy, while captioning the track with a concise, “Oops 🩷 love you @dollyparton love you @opry”.

“I ain’t proud, no sir, no way. Wonder what Hank and Merle would say,” she sings in the track. “Least I’m in good company, since I got banned from the Grand Ole Opry.”

Alongside her references to Hank Williams and Merle Haggard, King also namechecks Johnny Cash as another artist who was banned from the Grand Ole Opry at some point in their career.

Notably, Williams was banned from the Opry just four months before his death on New Year’s Day, 1953, while Cash was banned in 1965, though had his membership reinstated in 1968. Haggard, however, was never a member of the Opry, and thus was never actually banned at any point during his lengthy career.

As it stands, the Grand Ole Opry is yet to issue a statement in regard to whether King is actually banned, or whether her new song might reverse any decision relating to the potential ban.