Chinese Democracy Tour Europe, Asia and North America consisted of: After the 2002 tour was cancelled the band went into hiatus until they were scheduled to play at Rock in Rio Lisboa 1 in May 2004. However lead guitarist Buckethead left the band in March 2004 and their appearance was cancelled and Axl Rose made the following statement: Buckethead left Guns N' Roses, according to his manager, due to "Guns' inability to complete an album or tour". The Chinese Democracy Tour 2006 was a concert tour by Guns N' Roses promoting their upcoming album "Chinese Democracy". It started in May 2006 when the
Chinese Democracy its pledge. On the album's release, however, Dr Pepper's online distribution of coupons proved inadequate. Lawyers for the band threatened Dr Pepper's parent company with a lawsuit two days after the album's release; in a letter to the company, Rose's lawyer Alan Gutman said: "The redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ruined "Chinese Democracy"'s release." Gutman also demanded the company make a full-page apology that would appear in "The Wall Street Journal", "USA Today", "The New York Times", and "The Los Angeles Times".