American Idol judge Lionel Richie has apologized for canceling his recent Madison Square Garden show at the last minute. News came through an hour after the show was supposed to start that Richie was apparently delayed by weather issues.
Lionel Richie Apologizes for Canceling Concert
Richie is currently on tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. They were scheduled to perform a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, but the concert was canceled an hour after it was supposed to begin.
“Due to severe weather and being unable to land in the NY and surrounding areas, I’m unable to make it to the show tonight. I’m so bummed,” Richie wrote on Twitter, adding that the show was being rescheduled for Monday.
During Monday’s show, Richie apologized for Saturday’s cancellation. In a clip posted to Twitter, he can be heard explaining that both God and the pilot of his plane said “no” to him making it to the concert. Richie joked that he “tried to bribe the pilot.”
“So tonight we are going to make up for that,” Richie told the crowd. “I apologize a thousand times.”
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The Last-Minute Cancellation Angered Fans
A lot of fans were angered by Richie’s last-minute cancellation, arguing that weather wasn’t a good enough excuse. A pediatric nurse who couldn’t make it to Monday’s show told the New York Post that Richie “should have taken a limo for your fans for four hours.”
Another concertgoer thought the weather could be a fake excuse for the cancellation, speculating that it “might be something else.” Twitter users also wondered why Richie didn’t have another way to travel to New York from Boston, where he performed Friday.
One user called it “bad planning” to “fly in at the last minute.”
Richie isn’t the only star to cancel concert appearances lately. Fellow American Idol judge Luke Bryan has had to cancel several shows on his tour due to illness, and Katharine McPhee recently missed two concerts with her husband David Foster after their son’s nanny passed away.
