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 Tour release of "Chinese Democracy" was in Taiwan on December 11, 2009. In the same month the group played South Korea for the first time, as well as two dates in Japan. Since 2010 the tour has continued with concerts in North America, South/Central America, Europe and Australia. As of late 2010, the entire tour had attracted a total audience of about 4,000,000 people. The ten-year tour came to a close on the final day of 2011, with a New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas. The bulk of the band remained stable throughout the tour: lead vocalist Axl Rose; keyboardist