Punctuality has long been a problem for Lauryn Hill, who has a well-earned reputation for being consistently late for her own gigs, but the former Fugees singer’s penchant for lateness led to fan fury when she arrived two hours late for her Atlanta show on Friday.
Related: Lauryn Hill Cancels “Last-Minute’ Grammy Performance Due To No Prep Time
The extreme tardiness led Hill to be greeted by boos from the ticked-off crowd, reports NJ.com, with Jewel Wicker, a reporter for the “Atlanta Journal-Constitution”; confirming on Twitter:
People started booing (because Lauryn Hill is nearly 2 hours late at this point) so now the DJ is playing Prince. I can’t make this up… — Jewel Wicker (@jewelwickershow) May 7, 2016
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Lauryn Hill just came out up nearly 2 and a half hours late to boos. Yikes! — Jewel Wicker (@jewelwickershow) May 7, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsWhen Hill finally took to the stage, fans settled down and began to enjoy the performance — until it ended abruptly about 35 minutes later when the sound was cut (the venue has a strict curfew of 11 p.m.).
WELP! There’s a strict curfew here. They cut Lauryn Hill’s sound at 11 p.m. SHARP. pic.twitter.com/0EvGpKGuhO — Jewel Wicker (@jewelwickershow) May 7, 2016
After the show’s sudden end, a fan confronted Hill about her claims that her driver had gotten lost, pointing out that the driver could have used GPS and, besides, she had been at the venue earlier in the day to perform a soundcheck.
NOT him dragging Lauryn to her face. She deserved it though! pic.twitter.com/zEuYUbnWoE — N∆TE (@NathanNAVY) May 7, 2016
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Ironically, the Atlanta date was actually a rescheduled show after Hill had cancelled a previous Atlanta concert less than 48 hours before showtime.
Following the controversy, Hill responded to fans in a Facebook post, not exactly apologizing but claiming, “I don’t show up late to shows because I don’t care,”; explaining that “I have nothing but Love and respect for my fans. The challenge is aligning my energy with the time, taking something that isn’t easily classified or contained, and trying to make it available for others. I don’t have an on/off switch.”;
She adds: “For every performance that I’ve arrived to late, there have been countless others where I’ve performed in excess of two hours, beyond what I am contracted to do, pouring everything out on the stage.”;
She concluded by promising to make things up to her Atlanta fans in the future: “I have nothing but Love and appreciation for the fans in Atlanta, and regret not being able to give you a full show. We are figuring out a plan to make it up to you, and will announce details as soon as we have them.”;
