Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber Image Credit: Reuters Reuters

Stereophonics lead singer Kelly Jones has criticised teen pop idol Justin Bieber for arriving two hours late to his own concert. Bieber was scheduled to perform at 8.30 pm GMT on Monday, at the O2 Arena. Jones said the 19-year-old singer deserved "a slap" for showing up so late. Bieber left his fans fuming after he reached at 10.38 pm.

"If you can't turn up and get on stage on time then you deserve a slap. There's no excuse for that. He's probably got about 80 people around him, and if none of them have got a watch with all the money he's got then something's wrong, isn't it?" said Jones in a live Web chat with The Sun.

According to US Weekly, upset fans started booing as the singer started his performance and many of his young fans began crying as they had to leave the concert halfway to take trains back to their homes.

"The kids that are coming to his shows have got school in the morning. He should be ashamed of himself," Jones continued.

The Canadian singer justified the delay saying it was due to "technical issues" but Jones did not seem convinced.

"Rebelling and the pressures of fame are different from not showing up on time. You can rebel in the hotel room, in many ways. You can rebel in the red light district if you want to, Justin - you don't have to do it in the O2," Jones added, "He's just a kid but I don't care how old he is - he should still be able to tell the time."

Bieber's delay is surprising because on the morning of the concert, he seemed very excited and even tweeted about the show.

"In a good mood. Got my friends and team with me here and ready for Day 1 at the O2," Bieber wrote, "London get ready! BELIEVE tour."

However, after the concert, angered fans sent out series of tweets criticising the singer. One rumour also had it that Bieber was late to the concert because he was partying too hard.

The rumours lead the singer to take to Twitter and apologise to his fans on Tuesday. He wrote: "i was 40 min late to stage. there is no excuse for that and I apologise for anyone we upset. However it was great show and Im proud of that."