Chinese Democracy Tour was replaced by guitarist DJ Ashba in 2009. The 2001 European Tour (often referred to as the Chinese Democracy Tour) was a scheduled concert tour by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, planned in support of the band's then-upcoming sixth studio album "Chinese Democracy". Initially due to begin and end in June, many tour dates were rescheduled for December due to the reported illness of guitarist Buckethead. The re-configured tour was later cancelled outright. Following the Use Your Illusion Tour, which ran for over two years and visited 27 countries, and the release of cover album ""The Spaghetti Incident?""
Chinese Democracy Geffen had removed "Chinese Democracy" from its release schedule and withdrawn funding, stating: "Having exceeded all budgeted and approved recording costs by millions of dollars, it is Mr. Rose's obligation to fund and complete the album, not Geffen's." Around that time, manager Merck Mercuriadis said the album was close to complete. According to a March 2005 "New York Times" article, production costs for the album had reached $13 million, making it probably the most expensive recording "never made". Mercuriadis dismissed the article, writing in a letter that the newspaper's sources had not been involved with the project for several years.