A few weeks ago, Dwight Yoakam hilariously stopped a show to answer a call from Landman star Billy Bob Thornton. The actor was scheduled to appear at the "Ain't That Lonely Yet" singer's benefit for Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He called to say he was sorry he couldn't make it.
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Now, Yoakam is issuing his own apology after one of his shows was delayed by nearly two hours. We have the details below.
Dwight Yoakam Had "An Emergency Takeoff Abort"
It took a while for the 69-year-old Yoakam to take the stage in Lubbock, Texas. But it had nothing to do with him not wanting to take the stage for the Feb. 12 date.
But first, Yoakam addressed the "vague" announcement that attempted to explain the star's delayed arrival at Buddy Holly Hall.
"I want to personally apologize to the fans who bought tickets and attended our show in Lubbock, Texas this past Thursday evening on the 12th of February," he wrote. "It has only today been brought to my attention that, unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding my delayed arrival to perform the concert that night were not conveyed clearly by an in-person announcement from the stage but rather by a vague anonymous PA announcement about a flight delay."
Yoakam then went into a little more detail on why the show was delayed.
"What actually happened Thursday afternoon was that we had an emergency takeoff abort as the aircraft was about to lift off from the runway due to a mechanical failure warning in the cockpit," the singer explained. "Fortunately, the pilots handled the aborted takeoff with exceptional professional skill and they were able to avoid anything more dangerous or catastrophic occurring.
"After taxiing back to the hangar and concluding that the issue with that aircraft could not be corrected we were luckily able to be moved to a different plane and continue our flight to do the show in Lubbock approximately an hour and thirty minutes after my scheduled 9:00pm stage time."
The Venue Also Issued an Apology
Yoakam shared his "sincere apologies to all the fans in attendance that evening. He wished the "announcement about the reason for the show's delay was not made from 'onstage' more clearly and respectfully."
As reported by television station KAMC, the Buddy Holly Hall shared its own statement on Feb. 13 explaining why the singer played past midnight.
"We sincerely regret that the performance of Dwight Yoakam's show began later than scheduled last night at Buddy Holly Hall," it read. "A change of aircraft was required due to mechanical issues. We apologize for the inconvenience and delay and appreciate everyone's understanding."
Obviously, the venue's statement doesn't even begin to capture the real danger Yoakam and his team faced. We're just glad the singer made it into Lubbock safely.
