Elle King Gushes Over Sheryl Crow Ahead of CBS' 'New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash' (Exclusive)

By John Connor Coulston

Elle King will take the stage in front of tens of thousands at Nashville's Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park tonight, but she won't be alone. King is one of the co-hosts (and performers) for CBS Presents New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash, a massive celebration slated to kick 2023 off right. Among the many music all-stars joining the broadcast are Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson, and Steve Miller. One name that is also one the docket is Sheryl Crow, the music legend known for hits like "If It Makes You Happy" and "Soak up the Sun."

King is a huge fan of Crow, even calling her a "goddess" during her recent Zoom interview with my colleague Stephen Andrew (which you can watch at the top of this article). We had a chance to catch up with King in-person on Friday night amid rehearsals for the CBS special, and we followed up to ask more about her affection for the the nine-time Grammy winner.

"I love Sheryl Crow so much," King said. "First of all, she's the epitome of a fine wine. It's crazy for me to go through a couple of decades, and I remember there's a few songs that stick out from being younger, and I remember being in Ohio and my mom's bright red Jeep Cherokee, and rolling the windows down, and we would scream all of Sheryl Crow's music out loud."

King's love of Crow then reached a new level when she actually met her in-person while they were performing dates with Heart. "She was so wonderful and so lovely and so accepting to me," the Nashville transplant recalled. "She told me how she lived in Nashville, and I was like, "Oh, she's like doing country and everything. I was like, "Oh, that's so interesting." It was right before I went on tour with Miranda (Lambert). It's just cool to see how she's been a marker in very memorable points of my life."

She added, "She's also unbelievably talented, and her career is insane. Have you looked at the pictures of her singing back up for Michael Jackson?"

New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash airs live on Saturday (starting at 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET/PT and continuing from 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET/PT) on CBS (and streaming live via Paramount+). At the top of this article, you can watch our previous Zoom interview with King about the New Year's Eve special.

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