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 audiences, bountiful royalties, escalating ambitions and dangerously open-ended deadlines", the music business in the early 21st century had become "leaner" and "leakier". In a 2015 review inducting the album into their "New Classic Albums" category, Artistdirect praised the album, calling it "a timeless work of art". Best Buy purchased 1.3 million copies of "Chinese Democracy" from UMG before release and pledged not to return unsold copies. The album was released on November 22, 2008, in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It was released the following day worldwide, except for the United Kingdom, where it was released on November 24. "Chinese Democracy"