What a difference a year — and a leap into country music — has made for Elle King. Nearly a year ago to the day, she was headlining Metro. By Saturday night, the audience had tripled during the Chicago stop of her A-Freakin-Men tour at the brand-new Salt Shed.
That’s what a No. 1 single with Miranda Lambert can do. Last April, their party anthem “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” took over the top spot on the Country Airplay Chart, the first time a female duet had done so since 1993, and soon went platinum. King, previously known for her cutthroat pop smash “Ex’s & Oh’s,” took the bait. “Drunk” became the first single for her new album “Come Get Your Wife” (released Jan. 27) as she made a full pivot into the genre with the album’s other 12 tracks, also including a new collaboration with Dierks Bentley, whom she hits the road with this summer.
