Chinese Democracy Tour of Europe was announced in December 2000 as a New Year's Day performance at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. It was also rumoured that the long-awaited "Chinese Democracy" would be released in June 2001, for which the scheduled European Tour would be promotional. Guns N' Roses – then composed of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarists Buckethead and Robin Finck, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias (who joined in 1994 to replace Gilby Clarke), bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Brain and keyboardists Dizzy Reed (still with the band since joining in 1990) and Chris Pitman (who joined between 1998 and 2000) –
Chinese Democracy million in damages against Geffen for the unauthorized use of the samples. In May 2010, Azoff's company Front Line Management sued Rose over unpaid concert fees. Shortly afterwards, Rose filed a $5 million counter-lawsuit against Azoff claiming Azoff had "sabotaged" the release of "Chinese Democracy", among other issues. The suit claimed Azoff had "purposefully spoiled the "Chinese Democracy" album art, botched a sales deal with Best Buy, and even leaked songs online". The lawsuit was settled in 2011. "Chinese Democracy" is banned in the People's Republic of China because of perceived criticism in its title track of the Chinese government