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 fist holding a star covered by flailing human figures. Photographs of the Hong Kong skyline and the Chinese military also appear in the booklet. The booklet also includes pictures of Rose, Buckethead, Stinson, Pitman, Finck, Fortus, Bumblefoot, Reed, Brain, and Ferrer alongside lyrics to the songs. Rose stated in December 2008 that two alternate booklets were pending release, adding "the artwork has always been something I've been passionate about, and to release the album with unapproved and unseen final artwork with a 1st work only error filled draft when others more recent were readily available still has not been explained."