Lately, rocker-turned-country artist Elle King has been having the time of her life. Earning her first country Number One alongside Miranda Lambert, the free-spirited star says she’s found an adoptive home that was totally unexpected — and totally delightful.
“Ever since I’ve kind of tripped and fell into country, it has been so joyful and so fun, but also so loving and so wonderful,” she tells Audacy’s Rob + Holly in a recent interview. “People are happy in Country music!”
Apparently, that’s the opposite of what she felt getting started in rock.
Chatting after “Drunk (And I Son’t Wanna Go Home)” spent a week on top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart — marking the first woman-woman collaboration to do so since 1993 — King says she’s been welcomed into country by her fellow stars, and credits Dierks Bentley first. The two released a duet on Bentley’s “Different for Girls” back in 2016, and soon they’ll be back together again.
On top of her current single “Out Yonder,” King has a new duet with Bentley called “Worth a Shot,” which originally written for him but ended up in her banjo-strumming hands. And after signing to a Nashville record label last year, she’s got a whole lot more country in the works.
“Dierks opened up this glittery, shiny, rhinestone world!” she exclaims. “First thing, he was like, ‘You want a shot??’ I’m like, ‘YES! I do want a shot. Thank you, I’ll have another.’”