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 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