page_title: Guns N' Roses
section_title: Lineup changes and resuming tour
hierarchical_section_title: Guns N' Roses / History / New lineups and Chinese Democracy (1999–2008) / Lineup changes and resuming tour
caption_attribution_description: GUNS N' ROSES (Richard Fortus, Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose)
context_page_description: Guns N' Roses, often abbreviated as GNR, is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Melissa Reese.
  Guns N' Roses' debut album, Appetite for Destruction, reached number one on the Billboard 200 a year after its release, on the strength of the top 10 singles "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child o' Mine", the band's only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide, including 18 million units in the United States, making it the country's bestselling debut album and eleventh-bestselling album. Their next studio album, G N' R Lies, reached number two on the Billboard 200, sold ten million copies worldwide, and included the top 5 hit "Patience".
context_section_description: After a recommendation by guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal was contacted by keyboardist Chris Pitman in 2004. After sending demos and jamming with the band, Thal officially joined Guns N' Roses in 2006, replacing Buckethead. Thal made his live debut with the band at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 12, 2006, the band's first live show in over three years.
  Five warm-up shows before a North American tour were held in September 2006. The tour officially commenced on October 24 in Miami. Drummer Frank Ferrer replaced Bryan Mantia, who took a leave of absence to be with his wife and newborn child. Ferrer had previously worked with Richard Fortus in the Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love (and had been a member of several other bands, including The Beautiful). Coinciding with the tour, the song "Better" was featured in an internet advertisement for Harley-Davidson in October 2006. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed stated that the release was an accident, with two versions being made—one 'experimental edit' featuring a demo of "Better" and one with "Paradise City". The ad with Better was mislabeled and inadvertently uploaded online for a day before being replaced by the intended ad with Paradise City. That same month, Rolling Stone published an article revealing that Andy Wallace would be mixing the final album.
  In November 2006 shows in Portland, Maine, were cancelled, with the band claiming it was "due to limitations imposed by local fire marshals". Rose later apologized in a statement, stating "We have chosen to take the public heat for these events in order to have another shot at the future today with a new album."
  In December 2006, Rose released an open letter to fans announcing that Merck Mercuriadis had been fired as the band's manager. He revealed that the last four dates of the North American tour would be cut so the band could work on post-production for Chinese Democracy. He also set a tentative release date for the album for the first time since the album's announcement: March 6, 2007.
  On February 23, 2007, Del James announced that the recording stage of Chinese Democracy was finished, and the band had now moved onto mixing the album, mentioning "After some delays and scheduling difficulties, things appear to be moving along." However, this proved that March 6 release date would be impossible to achieve, and the album once again had no scheduled release date.
  In a December 2007 interview, Sebastian Bach claimed Rose had planned to have the album released by Christmas 2007: "I know Axl was very serious about putting something out before Christmas. He was talking to me about it. He was talking about finishing liner notes." Bach also said that Chinese Democracy's delay might be because of business problems: "I think there's a lot of business shit that goes on with him. It's just not as easy. It's a little more complicated than people think."
  Also in February 2007, the 'final' version of "Better" leaked online to positive reviews. On May 4, 2007, three more tracks leaked from Chinese Democracy; an updated version of "I.R.S.", "The Blues" and the title track. All three tracks had previously been played live. Guns N' Roses embarked on the 2007 leg of the Chinese Democracy World Tour in Mexico in June, followed by dates in Australia and Japan. The songs "Nice Boys" and "Don't Cry" (appearing as an instrumental Bumblefoot solo) were played for the first time since the Use Your Illusion Tour. The tour ended on the twentieth anniversary of Appetite for Destruction's release date, in Osaka. During this tour, the band featured vocalist Axl Rose, Robin Finck, Ron Thal and Richard Fortus on guitars, Tommy Stinson on bass, Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman on keyboards and Frank Ferrer on drums.
caption: Izzy Stradlin on stage with Guns N' Roses in 2006
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