Lionel Richie apologises for cancelling show, tried to ‘bribe’ pilot who couldn’t land plane

Lionel Richie has profusely apologised for cancelling his show an hour after the time it was scheduled to start, and quipped that he “tried to bribe the pilot” who said they couldn’t land due to “severe weather” conditions.

The Hello hitmaker is on the Sing a Song All Night Long Tour with Earth, Wind and Fire, and was “bummed” after he was forced to pull his performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday night (Aug 12), because the aircraft he was arriving on was “unable to land”, leaving thousands of fans disappointed.

Lionel, 74, rescheduled the concert to Monday (Aug 14) and it also meant that their concert in Connecticut that night had to be moved to Wednesday (Aug 16).

And when he finally took to the stage at MSG, he apologised to the crowd and vowed to make it up to them.

He said in a clip obtained by People: “I had two ‘no’s to come at the same time,” Richie said. “And when those two decided it’s a no – when God says no and when the pilot says no, the answer …”

Lionel then joked: “I tried to bribe the pilot.”

Before he added: “And the pilot said, ‘I do want to see my wife tomorrow.’ So tonight we are going to make up for that. I apologise for that a thousand times.”

A statement posted on his social media pages read: “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. We are rescheduling the show to Monday Aug 14. Can’t wait to perform for you all. Tickets for tonight’s show are valid for the show on Monday.”

Many fans were left “frustrated”, and one user suggested the Dancing on the Ceiling hitmaker could have been driven in a limo.

One wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “You can’t sell out Madison Square Garden and [cancel due to] a weather issue.”

Another wrote: “Hope you’re OK but you should have taken a limo for your fans for four hours. He’s loaded … take a f****** limo.”