A dog ate my homework. The check is in the mail. Traffic was backed up.

Add “severe weather” to the list of classic excuses.

Lionel Richie and Earth Wind & Fire canceled their sold-out Madison Square Garden show Saturday an hour after it was set to begin.

Richie borrowed a page from Milli Vanilli and blamed it on the rain. He claimed he was unable to fly into New York because of poor weather conditions.

The show was already an hour late from its anticipated 7:30 PM ET start when it was postponed, leaving 20,000 bitter people, many of them out-of-towners who had travel and hotel expenses tied up.

“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,” Richie tweeted at 8:31 p.m. 

“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.”