Elle King has received some attention for her recent performance of “Jolene” at a Dolly Parton birthday tribute show at the Grand Ole Opry. The 34-year-old singer drew varying opinions from fans for her onstage actions.
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[RELATED: Grand Ole Opry Issues Apology to Fans for Elle King Performance]
King, who is the daughter of Saturday Night Live alum Rob Schneider, probably is best known for her 2014 pop-rock hit “Ex’s & Oh’s,” and her popular 2021 country duet with Miranda Lambert, “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home).”
However, here are three facts you may not have known about King.
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King Didn’t Always Have a Good Relationship with Her Dad, but She Does Now
King was born Tanner Elle Schneider in Los Angeles in 1989, the daughter of Rob Schneider and former model London King. Her parents divorced in 1990, and King was mainly raised by her mom and her stepdad, Justin Tesa, in Ohio.
King admits she wasn’t close with Schneider when she was growing up, noting that he was very busy with his movie career at the time.
[RELATED: Watch Elle King’s Grand Ole Opry Performance of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” at the Ryman]
“My whole childhood, my dad was a workaholic,” she said in a 2018 People interview. The singer/songwriter told the magazine that she began mending her relationship with Schneider after she went through a difficult year where she left a destructive marriage and she struggled with substance abuse and her mental health.
In that same interview, she noted that Scheider had become her “biggest supporter.”
“Like, every other day I’ll get texts in all caps of like, ‘Your record’s gonna change the world!’” she explained. “‘I can’t wait for your fans to hear what you’ve made! I love you! I’m so proud of you!’ And that’s a beautiful, wonderful thing.”
King Began Getting Tattoos at Age 14
King has many tattoos in various parts of her body, including on her neck, stomach, arms, and legs. She revealed to People in 2016 that she was only 14 years old when she got her first ink.
“When I was a little girl…I felt awkward-looking, so I would look in the mirror, and I didn’t feel beautiful,” she explained to the magazine about why she began getting tattoos.
“When I was younger, I started getting tattooed, and so I kind of learned to find beauty in the differences of the world because I don’t look like most people,” King added. “I don’t sing, walk, talk, act like anyone else. That’s what I think is beautiful: People that stand out.”
Tattoos actually brought King’s fiancé, Dan Tooker, into her life. Tooker is a tattoo artist whom she met in 2019, when she got a tattoo from him at his shop in Boston.
“There was this electric thing that I’ve never felt before,” King told People in a 2023 interview. “We hung out, laughed, then he tattooed me, and I posted a picture and said, ‘Getting tattooed by my next ex-husband.’ We’ve been in love ever since.”
She and Tooker got engaged in 2020, and in September 2021, she gave birth to their son, Lucky.
King Appeared in Many of Her Dad’s Movies
King has made appearances in various movies starring or featuring Schneider. She portrayed a “Cookie Girl” in the 1999 film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, “Carol” in The Benchwarmers (2006), “Sabrina” in Wild Cherry (2009), and “Female Farmer” in Daddy Daughter Trip (2023).
King also appears in Schneider’s 2020 Netflix sand-up comedy special Rob Schneider: Asian Momma, Mexican Kids. In the show, she and her father sang a duet on the classic Roy Orbison song “In Dreams.”
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