The Tragic Truth About Elle King
Elle King has had a fair few tragedies in her lifetime. However, it may be a while before she overcomes her latest faux pas that has country fans spitting mad and demanding apologies. King was invited to pay tribute to Dolly Parton on her birthday by singing one of her songs at the Grand Ole Opry, but things went south after she failed to impress. Not only did King forget the lyrics of "Marry Me," but she heckled the crowd too. "You ain't getting your money back," King said before continuing, "Hi, my name is Elle King, I'm f***ing hammered."
The backlash was almost as epic as her wrecked performance, with one person tweeting, "#elleking drunked it up again ... celebrating #Dolly and listening to #Elle slur words and drop F bombs right on the stage of the mother #church of country music. #Ryman Aud crowd disgusted and speechless." The Opry apologized to one of the fans on X, formerly Twitter, who was less than happy with King's performance. They wrote, "Hi Judas, we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance." Besides postponing a few concerts, King has remained mum on her worrying performance. However, the artist has had years of experience dealing with adversity and can bounce back from anything. Looking into King's past quickly reveals a painful backstory that shows her resilience.
School was difficult for Elle King
Born Tanner Elle Schneider, Elle King is the daughter of famous parents, Hollywood funnyman Rob Schneider and model London King, but her upbringing wasn't as glamorous as you may believe. She spent her childhood in southern Ohio and found school challenging. In a Facebook post, she shared, "I always had trouble with school. I got kicked out for the first time in 2nd grade, not knowing it would become a constant theme throughout my life. I was tender-hearted, ruled by emotions, and had a persistent need to fight authority as everyone tried to mold and conform me to be a child that was easy to control and teach."
The "America's Sweetheart" singer's peers weren't about to give her a break either. In an interview with People, she shared, "I was the chubby girl with a dad that didn't visit very often, and everybody made fun of me and were mean to me about it." Not only did the bullies rip into her about her weight, but it seems that the absence of her father was fodder for their insults as well. Things didn't improve as she got older, either. King was banned from her high school play for failing to do her homework, and she shared that she was just biding her time until she finished school. She told CMT, "I just wasn't a very good student, and I didn't do well in that entire part of my life."
Rob Schneider and Elle King were not always close
"Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" star Rob Schneider and his daughter Elle King had a rough start to their father-daughter relationship, and she was bullied because he didn't visit her very often. King opened up to People in 2018, saying, "My whole childhood, my dad was a workaholic." They grew distant, with King telling the outlet they were estranged when she dropped her debut EP in 2012. "He wasn't even in my life. He got married and had a kid, and we weren't even talking," the "Lucky" singer stated. King also revealed that she reconnected with Schneider because of her half-sisters. She said, " I wanted my sisters to have good memories of me from their childhood when they grew."
King also struggled with her identity, partially because she was in the shadow of a famous parent. King tried to explain her experience, saying, "Growing up as somebody who was chubby, awkward, funny, has OCD, and is weird, quirky, and awkward but super sensitive, I had to really fight to be okay as myself. So I didn't want to be known as someone's kid ... I wanted to be my own person." Luckily, Schneider supports his daughter's success wholeheartedly. "I'm blown away by your incredible spirit, determination, and amazing talent ... You are such a huge inspiration to me," Schneider captioned an Instagram pic of the two in 2023.
Elle King went through a painful divorce
Behind every country singer is a romantic tragedy. Just ask Elle King, who married Andrew Ferguson in 2016. Their meet-cute began at a bar, leading to an elopement just three short weeks later, and ultimately ended in a divorce in 2017. Initially, King was smitten with Ferguson and gushed about the proposal, explaining on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," "He proposed on a sailboat under the Golden Gate Bridge." But, reflecting on her marriage in 2018, King told People, "It crashed and burned, but when we got married, it was out of absolute, sheer love." The singer explained that they hardly knew each other when they got hitched, so she kept their marriage a secret. She explained, "Nobody knew because I thought my mom would f***ing kill me."
However, their fairytale beginning would soon turn grim. TMZ reported that Ferguson faced a charge of felony domestic violence because cops found scratches and marks on King's neck and arms. Ferguson allegedly threw King on a bed, placed his hands on her neck, and told her that he was going to kill her. King opted not to press charges against her then-husband but announced their split a few weeks later. As far as marriage is concerned, King told People, "It's not that I wouldn't wanna get married again, I just wouldn't wanna go through a divorce again — because that's pretty s****y. It can make you feel like a failure." Heartbreaking songs from experience? Check.
The 'Drunk' singer struggled with addiction
After Elle King and Andrew Ferguson divorced, she found herself in a bad space and wrestled with PTSD, depression, and substance use. "I was at the lowest point in my life," she told People, and sought help from a PTSD specialist. While still receiving treatment, King acted out. She disclosed that she was drinking, drugging, and partying to numb the pain that she was experiencing. King explained, "I thought that by doing drugs, it would buy me time to feeling better. And when that wasn't working, I just realized I was in this other cycle and that I was creating it myself. And I realized I needed to cut all the darkness out of my life."
In 2020, King revealed that she was trying to live a cleaner life and be more conscious about her choices. She reflected on her birthday to Variety, saying, "[I]t was a sober birthday; getting high on my own life. I'm doing a sober summer ... because what I was doing wasn't working." Two years later, King sang another tune, dropping that she drinks before performing. She told The San Diego Union-Tribune, "I get nervous before I go on stage, [so] I have a couple of drinks [first]. Drinking makes me less nervous about hitting the notes when I sing. If I don't make them, it won't sting as much." If King doesn't do well under pressure, it might explain how she handled singing to Dolly Parton at the Opry... and we know how that turned out.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Elle King had two miscarriages and post-partum depression after son's birth
Things turned around for Elle King when she fell in love and had her son Lucky Levi Tooker in September 2022. "I've always wanted to be a mom, and he is the best gift," she told People at the Grammys that year. King had difficulty conceiving a child because of her polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) diagnosis, which is the primary cause of infertility. Before Tooker's birth, King had previously miscarried twice.
In another interview with People, she discussed the unspoken rules of pregnancy after a miscarriage. "[Y]ou're not supposed to tell people before 12 weeks because if you lose it, it's going to be embarrassing for you, and you don't want other people to get their hopes up," she stated. King opted to tell her loved ones so that she could have a support team. She also spoke about how painful her miscarriages were. "[T]o go through that pain of losing two pregnancies, it just feels like life is over, life is done ... You feel like such a failure," she said.
After her son's birth, King revealed she had experienced some mental health issues while expecting him. She wrote on Instagram, "I fell into a very deep depression during my pregnancy. I also didn't even realise [sic] how intense postpartum depression is and was until I very slowly began to crawl out." However, King was proud that she was working on her journey to become a healthier person, one habit at a time.