Back in 2021, Elle King made her biggest impact on mainstream country music with her Miranda Lambert duet "Drunk (and I Don't Wanna Go Home)." Co-written by King and alt-rocker Martin Johnson, the single topped Billboard's Country Airplay chart and picked up CMA, ACM and Grammy nominations. It was the first all-woman duet to reach No. 1 on a country chart since Reba McEntire and Linda Davis' 1993 hit "Does He Love You."
Over two years later, King ended 2023 as a co-host of "New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash." Her outfit —a fringed, pink jacket with silver star embellishments plus a pink top and skirt and a silver pair of shimmering boots— pointed back to one of pop culture's defining terms of the year: Barbiecore.
In addition to her co-hosting duties, King performed during a star-studded evening that spotlighted the talents of Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Kane Brown and others. She joined Lainey Wilson and Lynyrd Skynyrd for a rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama" that was among the evening's highlights. In addition, she sang "Drunk (and I Don't Wanna Go Home)," sans Lambert, and the Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."
It was a family affair for King. Her dad, comedian Rob Schneider, introduced her set, and she was joined onstage at one point by her son, Lucky.
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CBS aired "New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash" opposite ABC's "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," which aired live from Time Square in New York City and featured Jelly Roll among its performers.
"New York, that's legendary," King told Wide Open Country. "If that's what you choose to watch, that's wonderful, and I hope that you have the absolute best New Year's. But there's quite a few states in between New York and Los Angeles, and a lot of those people, they're going to be tuning into the music that they listen to.
"I get to be a face for that," she added. "I'm from Southern Ohio. I feel like I'm speaking to my brother, my aunts, my cousins, and I just want people to have fun. I just feel proud that I get to be a part of it, let alone get to perform. It's just exciting. It's going to be such a fun night."
