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 At one point, the band was using a budget of almost $250,000 a month. Rose said the expense would be negated by the recording sessions yielding multiple albums. In February 2006, "I.R.S.", "The Blues", "There Was a Time", "Better" and "Catcher in the Rye" leaked to the internet. In October, the song "Better" was inadvertently leaked by Harley-Davidson in an online ad. A "final version" was leaked in February 2007. "Madagascar" was leaked in March 2007. In May 2007 the title track was leaked, and updated versions of “Chinese Democracy,” “The Blues,” “I.R.S.” and “There Was a Time” were leaked