Editorial: Justin Bieber is not big or clever, just rude

Justin Bieber is far from the first megastar to leave his fans waiting. Indeed, it was once de rigueur for rock bands of all descriptions – not just the vastly successful ones – to finally make it on to the stage several hours after they were billed.

Where the 19-year-old pop sensation is different, of course, is that so many of his youthful audience needed to get to bed. Indeed, some as young as nine were left in tears when they had to leave just 20 minutes into his performance in London on Tuesday.

Notwithstanding Mr Bieber’s insistence that he was actually only 40 minutes late, the parents of many in the audience were profoundly unimpressed. As were those put out by his late arrival at a concert in Nottingham on Saturday. Louis XVIII of France judged punctuality to be the politeness of kings. The Canadian teen star would do well to heed the lesson.