Chinese Democracy Timeline

THE CHINESE DEMOCRACY ALBUM SAGA

A detailed timeline charting the history of the unreleased Guns N Roses studio album "Chinese Democracy.” Featuring news items and rumors surrounding the project. BASIC INFORMATION BAND: Guns N Roses ALBUM TITLE: Chinese Democracy RELEASE DATE: Unknown RECORDING DATES: 1994 - present LABEL: Geffen (Universal Music) PERSONNEL: VOCALS: W. Axl Rose GUITAR: Paul “Huge” Tobias, Robin Finck, Brian May, Gary Sunshine, Dave Navarro, Buckethead, Richard Fortus, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal BASS: Tommy Stinson DRUMS: Chris Vrena, Dave Abbruzzese, Josh Freese, Brian “Brain” Mantia, Frank Ferrer PIANO: Axl Rose, Dizzy Reed KEYBOARDS: Dizzy Reed, Chris Pittman PROGRAMMING: Axl Rose, Chris Pittman ORCHESTRA ARRANGER: Paul Buckmaster, Marco Beltrami PRODUCERS: Axl Rose, Mike Clink, Youth, Moby, Sean Beaven, Bob Ezrin, Roy Thomas Baker, Caram Costanzo ENGINEERS: Dave Dominguez, Eric Cadieux, Andy Wallace

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CONFIRMED SONG TITLES (SOURCE)                   

Better (leaked demos 2006, 2007 & 2008) Catcher In The Rye (leaked demo 2006) Chinese Democracy (leaked demos 2007 & 2008) General (Arranger Marco Beltrami 2002) I.R.S. (leaked demos 2006, 2007 & 2008) Ides Of March (Engineer Dave Dominguez 2000) If The World (leaked demo 2008) Leave Me Alone (Arranger Marco Beltrami 2002) Madagascar (leaked demos 2007 & 2008) Oklahoma (Axl Rose Rolling Stone Interview 2000) Prostitute (Arranger Paul Buckmaster 2005 & possibly leaked demo 2008) Riyadh & The Bedouins (leaked demo 2008) Seven (Arranger Marco Beltrami 2002) Shackler’s Revenge (Rock Band 2 video game 2008) Sorry (Singer Sebastian Bach 2006) The Blues (leaked demos 2007 & 2008) This I Love (Engineer Dave Dominguez 2000) Thyme (Arranger Marco Beltrami 2002) There Was A Time (leaked demos 2006, 2007 & 2008)

RUMORED SONG TITLES            

Atlas Shrugged (Sp1at website 2005) Closing In On You (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Cock-A-Roach Soup (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Friend or Foe (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Hearts Get Killed (Kerrang! magazine 1999) No Love Remains (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Quick Song (Sp1at website 2005) Something Always (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Strange Disease (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Suckerpunched (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Zip It (Kerrang! magazine 1999) Zodiac (Sp1at website 2005)

NOTE: After drummer Steven Adler was fired in 1990 and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin quit the band in 1991, vocalist Axl Rose demanded and was granted sole control of the Guns N' Roses name. Axl, backstage before one of the band’s Use Your Illusion concerts, basically issued an ultimatum: He'd get the name of the band or he wouldn't perform. Papers memorializing this transfer were drawn up and guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan signed them. (Rolling Stone May 11, 2000)

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1993-1996: BACKGROUND 07/17/93: Guns N Roses (GnR) play the last show of their Use Your Illusion world tour. 11/23/93: GnR releases an album of punk covers called The Spaghetti Incident? January 1994: GnR lead singer W. Axl Rose and guitarist Slash appear on the radio show Rock Line and say they’re about to start work on the next Guns N Roses studio album. Axl also reveals he is working on a “top secret project” and hoping to collaborate with Queen guitarist Brian May. January 1994: Slash tells Kerrang! magazine the next GN'R album will be out in the summer. Early 1994: Axl, Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, drummer Matt Sorum, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and guitarist Gilby Clarke enter the studio to begin work on their first album of original material since the 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and II.. GnR’s record company Geffen says they hope to have the album out before the end of the year. May 1994: Gilby Clarke tells Kerrang! magazine: "There is no `next GN'R album'. We started working on one, and it got canned. It's an Axl thing. He just wasn't into what we were doing, so he's kind of rethinking what he wants to do. He just kind of threw a wrench into everything that me, Slash and Matt had worked to." June 1994: Axl fires Gilby Clarke and replaces him with his childhood friend Paul "Huge" Tobias. December 1994: GnR’s cover of the Rolling Stones "Sympathy For The Devil" is released as a single and featured in the film Interview With A Vampire. February 1995 Slash's Snakepit releases their debut album It's Five O'Clock Somewhere. This disc is made up of material Slash wrote for the new Guns N Roses album that was rejected by Axl. November 1995: Slash tells Metal Hammer magazine: "I played him (Axl) the material that I was writing, and he was like, ‘I don't wanna do that kind of music.’ So I took the material back And then I booked a tour, and at this point Axl turned around and wanted the material back. And that's where the big shit started, because I told him, "Dude, it's gone. If I remember correctly, it was turned down flat." And that's where we got threats of lawsuits and this, that and the other." Fall 1995: Axl brings in Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde to work with GnR. He quits after a few weeks.

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1995: GnR’s original rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin is brought into write songs with Axl and Duff for the new album. He winds up working mostly with Duff. The pair go onto collaborate on Izzy’s next two solo albums. August, 1996: Neurotic Outsiders, featuring Duff and Matt Sorum, release their first album. The band then tours North American and Europe. 10/30/96: Slash announces he has left Guns N Roses. Axl sends a fax to MTV which says Slash hasn’t been a part of GN'R since 1995. Despite Slash's departure, Axl says Guns N Roses will continue.

1997-1998: 2000 INTENTIONS January 1997 Axl officially buys the rights to the name Guns N' Roses. January 1997: In an interview with the Addicted To Noise online magazine, Slash talks about giving up his rights to the GN'R name. "I was blindsided by it, more or less a legal faux pas. I'd be lying to say I wasn't a little bit peeved at that. The fact that he (Axl) can actually go and record a new GN'R record without the consent of the other members of the band." Early 1997: Former Nine Inch Nails member Robin Finck becomes Guns N Roses new lead guitarist. March 1997: Addicted to Noise online site reports that Axl and GnR are working on a techno/electronica album with producer Moby. Rumored titles for the album are Cockroach Soup and 2000 Intentions. May 1997: Duff and Matt appear at the Music West conference. Matt confirms that drummers Chris Vrena (ex-Nine Inch Nails) and Dave Abbruzzese (ex-Pearl Jam) have been working with GnR and that Moby is helping produce. May 1997: MTV says Mike Clink (producer of Appetite for Destruction) is now working on the album. Summer 1997: Matt Sorum is fired from Guns n Roses. August 1997 Duff McKagan quits Guns N Roses. February 1998: Rolling Stone article. GnR manager Doug Goldstein reveals Axl is in an LA studio working on the new album. He says the band has recorded more than 300 hours of material. He estimates they are "three to five months away from actual recording but says not to expect a record until 1999.

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April 1998: MTV reports Axl will soon be going into the studio with producer Youth. GnR is currently writing and rehearsing songs for the album. A Geffen spokesperson says that while it’s possible, it’s highly unlikely a new GnR album will come out this year. September 1998: Addicted to Noise says the new GnR lineup is: Axl Rose, Robin Finck, Paul Tobias, Dizzy Reed, drummer Josh Freese (formerly of The Vandals), bassist Tommy Stinson (formerly of The Replacements) and effects man Chris Pittman. GnR spokesperson Bryn Bridenthal says the band is working on an album of what sounds like an "electronic-influenced progression of Guns n' Roses" and that "we're anticipating a record next summer." November 1998: Much Music reports that the band is now working with producer Sean Beaven in a Los Angeles studio. 1998: Geffen Records promises Axl a $1 million bonus if he delivers a new Guns N Roses album by March 1 of the following year. 1999: The new lineup of GnR records an updated version of Appetite For Destruction. This was mainly to help prepare the band for future concerts. Axl later tells Kurt Loder: “I don't know what I'm going to do with it, exactly, when I would be putting that out. But you know, it has a lot of energy.”

1999-2001: CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW? January 1999: Seagram orchestrates a massive restructuring of its music division, firing 110 Geffen employees and folding the unit into the corporation's bigger Interscope Records division. The unfinished Guns N Roses album project is placed in the hands of Interscope's chairman, Jimmy Iovine. June 1999: The Dust n Bones mailing list reports that the new album may be released this autumn. “Sources close to the band have said that Rose is now pulling out the stops to get the CD into record stores by November. An Interscope Records insider says: ‘Axl swears he's going to deliver a record by late fall. The head guys at Interscope have heard what he's doing and everybody is pretty excited. The tracks have been recorded for a long time, but Axl's just starting to lay down the vocals.’" July 1999: During the end credits of the film Big Daddy a new version of the GnR classic “Sweet Child O’Mine” is heard. It starts out with a live recording from 1993 then turns into a studio version recorded by new GnR lineup. 08/01/99: Robin Finck leaves GN'R to rejoin Nine Inch Nails. August 1999: Kerrang! magazine article says GnR has been working since 1994 on around 30 songs. They say the music is a mix of “techno-industrial rock” and “old-style Guns sleaze.” Drummer Chris Venna says “I have a feeling it’s gonna be more like

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Appetite, than anyone is expecting.” The article reveals that basketball player/rapper Shaquille O’Neal rapped on one track. Polygram/Universal says they have tentatively scheduled its release for the end of this year, although sources admit that it has been on the schedules several times before and the band have consistently failed to meet deadlines. November 1999: Guns n Roses concert album Live Era 1987-1993 is released. Axl laters tells Kurt Loder “It was something we wanted to give to the public in a way of saying farewell. It was a very difficult thing to do, as listening to it and the people involved... [it] wasn't the most emotionally pleasant thing to do.” November 1999: The first new original Guns N Roses song since 1991, “Oh My God” is released as part of the End Of Days movie soundtrack. The track features four guitarists: Tobias, Finck, Dave Navarro (from Jane’s Addiction) and Gary Sunshine. November 8th, 1999: GnR manager Doug Goldstein tells the LA Times a new album called Chinese Democracy will be released in 2000. November 1999: Axl is interviewed by Kurt Loder for MTV. He talks about the album delays. “I originally wanted to make a traditional record or try to get back to an "Appetite [For Destruction]" thing or something, because that would have been a lot easier for me to do. I was hoping to write a traditional thing, but I was not really allowed to do that.” On Slash leaving the group. “We were trying to make things work with Slash for a very, very long time... about three and a half years.” On Duff and Matt leaving the group. “That was their choice to leave. Everybody that's gone did it by choice. Matt was fired, but Matt came in attempting to get fired and told many people so that night.” On Chinese Democracy: “We've been working on, I don't know, 70 songs. The record will be about, anywhere from 16 to 18 songs, but we recorded at least two albums' worth of material that is solidly recorded.” On the new lineup. “To be honest, it was a long time for me since Guns N' Roses as the old lineup had been fun, and the new guys have been a breath of fresh air. People are really excited about what we got.” Loder asks “When do you think we will actually see this album? Is it possible to say early next year?” Axl says “We're hoping. Yes, definitely, everything seems to be going well.” January 2000: Axl lets Rolling Stone writer David Wild listen to dozens of tracks off Chinese Democracy. Wild describes the music as "Physical Graffiti remixed by Beck and Trent Reznor." The article says the new album is tentatively titled Chinese Democracy and loosely scheduled for summer 2000." 'GnR manager Doug Goldsterin says: “'As far as I can tell, 'we are now 99% musically done and 80% vocals done. I see the record being done February or March for a summer release.'' January 2000: In the Rolling Stone article Axl talks about his decision to continue using the name Guns n Roses. “It is something I lived by before these guys were in it. And there were other people in Guns N` Roses before them, you know.” On the new album he says. “It's not an Axl Rose album, even if it's what I wanted it to be.”

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March 2000: John Freese leaves GnR to form A Perfect Circle. Spring 2000: Producer Roy Thomas Baker begins working on the album. May 2000: Moby in a Spin magazine article describes working on Chinese Democracy: "I found it difficult to chart a linear development of the songs that they were working on They would work on something, it would be a sketch for a while, and then they'd put it aside and go back to it a year, six months later. I wouldn't be surprised if the record never came out, they've been working on it for such a long time." October 2000: Drummer Brian “Brain” Mantia (formerly of Primus) and guitarist Buckethead join the band. Also, Robin Finck rejoins. January 2001: Guns N' Roses plays it's first concerts since 1993 appearing at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas and Rock in Rio festival in Brazil. The new lineup features: Rose, Dizzy Reed, Paul Tobias, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, Brain, Buckethead and Chris Pitman. They play several new songs: "Chinese Democracy," "The Blues," "Silkworms," "Madagascar" "Rhiad And The Bedouins" and "Oh My God." Posters for the shows state "Chinese Democracy starts now!" January 2001 O Globo Article “The expectations of the band turns now to the new album, "Chinese Democracy", which will be released in June. The leader guarantees his fans that they will be rewarded for the long wait. With 18 songs, the group's next album is a collection of songs, which in Axl's opinion are as good as "November Rain". The CD will include a tribute to John Lennon and another about child abuse.” January 2001: Axl Radio Rock And Pop Chile interview. DJ asks when the new album is coming out. Axl: “Um, hopefully we will put out a new single umm sometime this spring and then the record gonna be done in June or shortly thereafter.” January 22nd 2001 Axl Rock & Pop FM Argentina interview. DJ asks why the album has taken so long to be released. Axl: “We hadn't written songs or recorded for many years. There were band changes and there were many changes in the record company. People in the record company had many opinions and they wanted to make the best possible record. Every time that we thought that we had the correct songs, then somebody thought that we could make it better..” Early 2001: The band announces a June tour of Europe. May 2001: GnR reschedules its Europe dates for December because Buckethead is ill. November 2001: GnR cancels the rescheduled European dates. Manager Doug Goldstein tells the press he forgot to make Axl aware of the tour. He says: "Following the euphoria of Rock In Rio, I jumped the gun and arranged a European tour, as our plan was to have the new album out this year."

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2001: Tom Zutaut, the A&R man who helped get GnR signed to Geffen Records, works for 9 months to help Axl finish the album. "I really thought I could get him to deliver the record, and we got close." December 29th-31st, 2001: The band plays two shows at The Joint in Las Vegas

2002: THE CHINESE DEMOCRACY TOUR Early 2002: Roy Thomas Baker is fired. Early 2002: Paul Tobias leaves Guns N Roses. He is replaced with Richard Fortus (formerly of Love Spit Love). August 14th 2002: GnR’s official website announces the Chinese Democracy World Tour which will commence in August. “Guns N’ Roses will go back into the studio immediately following the aforementioned dates to put the final touches on the forthcoming “Chinese Democracy” album.” August 14th 2002: Axl official statement on the album: “I gave into a lot of pressure on Illusions both internally in Guns and externally in the press, those albums suffered as a consequence, it's not something I'm too excited to have to live with again. There are a lot of new songs that were just done in the last year that we feel that ‘okay, well that bumps a lot of stuff off the previous list but it's time to stop that now and wrap up the baby. It feels right, the timing, and a lot of things. We’ve sorted it down to what songs are on the record. What the sequence of the songs is. The album cover art is ready. Blah, blah, blah. If you're waiting...don't. Live your life. That's your responsibility not mine. If it were not to happen you won't have missed a thing. If in fact it does you might get something that works for you, in the end you could win on this either way. But if you're really into waiting try holding your breath for Jesus cause I hear the payoff may be that much greater.” August 2002: The band plays concerts in China, Japan, London and Belgium. 08/29/02: GN'R make a surprise appearance at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Kurt Loder interviews Axl afterwards and asks him if Chinese Democracy will be out soon. Axl: “Umm you'll see it, I dont know if soon is the word. But it will come out and we will, we'll go back, we'll do some more recording and then we'll start the American leg of the tour... And see how it goes from there.” October, 2002 - Marco Beltrami says in an interview that he provided orchestral arrangements for several songs on the new album: “Seven,” “Leave Me Alone,” “General” and “Thyme.” 11.07.02: The North American tour is set to kick off in Vancouver, Canada . However, the show is cancelled because Axl was running over an hour late. The promoters pulled the plug on the concert and a riot erupted in and out of the arena.

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November – December 2002: The band tours the United States. They perform in 16 cities including a sold out show at Madison Square Garden in New York. 12.06.02: Philadelphia First Union Center: Fans wait several hours for the show to begin. Around 11 pm a spokesman tells the crowd one of the band member’s sick and the show is canceled. A riot occurs. Dec 2002: Tour promoter Clear Channel cancels the remaining 15 dates of the tour.

2003-2005: CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW?? July 2003: Axl plays tracks from the Chinese Democracy album to a mostly empty Crazy Horse Too club in Las Vegas. Early 2004: GN'R record at Village Recording Studios in West Los Angeles, CA with producer/engineer Caram Costanzo and Pro Tools engineer Eric Cadieux. 02/02/04: Geffen Records Press Release: "Having exceeded all budgeted and approved recording costs by millions of dollars it is Mr. Rose's obligation to fund and complete the album, not Geffen's." Over a legal challenge by Axl, the label then issues a GnR greatest hits compilation. March 2004: Buckethead leaves the band. March 30th 2004 Official Press Release confirms the departure of Buckethead and talks about the status of the album. “In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, Guns will be moving forward and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months.” October 2004: The videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is released. Featuring Axl as the voice of Tommy "The Nightmare" Smith, the K-DST DJ. December 2004: Guns N' Roses' manager Merck Mercuriadis becomes CEO of Sanctuary Music Group. In January 2005, Rose signs a publishing deal with Sanctuary, which covers past and future work by Rose, including "dozens of new tracks Rose has recently recorded for Universal Music." March 2005: A New York Times article about Chinese Democracy titled “The Most Expensive Album Never Made” states that production costs have reached $13 million. March 2005: Sanctuary Group CEO and Guns N Roses manager Merck Mercuriadis states: "The 'Chinese Democracy' album is very close to being completed, people felt like the record had been made four or five times already."

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September 2005: Rose reportedly tells a group of fans in Malibu that the album might be released in early 2006 and that the band is looking to put a song on the soundtrack for the movie The Da Vinci Code . December 2005: Richard Fortus says he's going back to Los Angeles to do some recording with GN'R. December 2005: Amazon.com posts a listing for "Guns N Roses: Chinese Democracy". The price is $21.49 with a release date of December 31, 2025 (the temporary date set for all new unconfirmed releases). The listing was removed a few days later.

2006: THE CHINESE DEMOCRACY TOUR II January 13, 2006: Axl attends a Korn tour launch party and talks to Rolling Stone. He mentions that they're working on 32 songs, and that 26 are nearly done. Of those, 13 are slated for the final album. Among Rose's favorites are "Better," "There Was a Time" and "The Blues." He promises: "people will hear music this year." January 2006: Guns N Roses announce a European summer tour. January 2006: Slash radio interview: "Axl has a record coming out, I think in March, which is cool, because it will be interesting to hear, after all this time." Host: "So wait, Chinese Democracy is coming out?" Slash: "Yeah, it’s coming out in March!" February 2006: Complete studio demos of the Chinese Democracy tracks "I.R.S.""There Was A Time"/"T.W.A.T." "Better" and "Catcher in the Rye" are leaked online. Guitarist Brian May confirms that he played on "Cather In The Rye." 03/03/06: Axl files court papers to ask for "ownership of all creative works" by Guns n' Roses. According to Merck Mercuriadis: "This will not delay the new album - quite the opposite - tying up these loose ends allows us to get on with it." March 2006: Live Nation website: "Legendary rockers Guns N' Roses will release their first album in 13 years next month when the long awaited 'Chinese Democracy' finally hits store shelves." April 2006: (From the Rock In Rio Lisboa website) “It’s been 12 years since Guns n’ Roses’ last album was released and Axl Rose claims that Chinese Democracy will be released before the summer.” 05/05/06: Axl makes surprise appearance on Eddie Trunk's syndicated radio show in New York. Eddie asked when Axl's new album would be released. Axl - hesitated - but then said "sometime this Fall or late Fall" - and "It will be out this year."

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May 2006: Guns n Roses plays four warm up shows in New York at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal is introduced as the band’s new guitarist. They play “Better,” “IRS” and “There Was A Time” live for the first time. Axl tells the crowd: “With regards to our new album. You’ll have to hold your breath a little while longer for that.” May 22, 2006: Sanctuary Artist Management releases a statement regarding GnR’s recent NY shows. “Over the four nights, audiences were also treated to nearly half of the band's upcoming new album, Chinese Democracy, with live performances of "Chinese Democracy," "Better," "There was a Time," "Madagascar," "IRS" and "The Blues.” May – July 2006: Guns n Roses tours Europe. Original GnR guitarist Izzy Stradlin’ makes guest appearances at several of the shows. 08/31/06: August 31st, 2006: Axl makes an appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards and when asked about Chinese Democracy's release, he said "it is this year". However, he refuses to give a specific month. September 2006: On their revamped official website, Guns N' Roses announce the first leg of their "Chinese Democracy" North American Tour. The release also states: “As for Guns N' Roses forthcoming "Chinese Democracy" album the only comment at this time is that there are 13 Tuesdays left between now and the end of the year. 09/11/06: In New York Metro Magazine, Axl talks about the holdup in releasing the album: “It’s not about being a control freak. It’s about being maybe smart enough to go, ‘No, that’s a bad idea.’ That’s all it’s about—keeping the ability to at least have a shot as opposed to something that’s just an obvious disaster. I want to make a good record. I don’t want to throw a brick. This cannot be Shaq at the free-throw line.” 09/23/06: Guns n Roses headlines KROQ’s Inland Invasion concert in San Bernadino, CA. Opening act Sebastian Bach later tells Rolling Stone that after the show Axl threw a party at his mansion and played the full album in his poolroom for visitors. Bach said the album includes some tracks that have been played live or leaked onto the Internet, including the poppy “Better” and the hard-hitting “I.R.S.” Bach reveals: "There’s this one song called ‘Sorry’ that’s almost like doom metal with Axl singing really clean over this grinding, slow beat that is fucking mean.” October 2006: GNR is supposed to kick off the Southern leg of its 'Chinese Democracy' tour Oct. 20 in Jacksonville, but the show is rescheduled for Oct. 31. The next show in Nashville is cancelled completely. 10/20/06: Harley-Davidson offered a streamed version of its latest commercial. The ad reads: "See it. Hear it. Now. Watch the TV commercial featuring the new, exclusive, unreleased Guns N' Roses' song "Better" from the forthcoming album, Chinese Democracy.” The song is quickly removed from the website.

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10/24/06: John Stoll, president of West Palm Beach promoter Fantasma Productions, Inc. says that Axl rescheduled the Florida show and cancelled Nashville because “He was putting the finishing touches on the new album,' October 5, 2006, Rolling Stone quotes a source who tells them the album has a "firm release date of November 21, 2006." Also, that engineer Andy Wallace is working on mixing the album. . October – December 2006: Guns n Roses tours North America. Frank Ferrer fills in on drums for Brain. 10/18/06: Merck Mercuriadis in Rolling Stone: “The album will come out this year. There are ten Tuesdays left before January – it will come out on one of them.” He also half jokingly says: “ I don’t know that we will announce a release date. You just might walk into your record shop one Tuesday and find it there.” 11/16/06: The Toronto Sun quotes GnR’s record label, Universal Music as saying: "We have no indication that a Guns N' Roses record will be released this year." 12/14/06: In a statement released on GnR’s official website Axl announces: 1) the remaining dates on the US tour are cancelled. 2) Merck Mercuriadis will no longer be the band’s manager 3) that the album will not be released in 2006. 4) announces a tentative release date of March 6th, 2007. He says the US shows were cancelled because “valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album “Chinese Democracy” would have been lost. Rather than delay the album yet again, all involved have decided to remove these shows from GN’R’s schedule.” Regarding the tentative March 6th release date: “We would like to assure the fans that everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official, you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons, you also will be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date, and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible.”

2007-present: CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS… NEVER? January 2007: Axl is said to be recording in Las Vegas, NV. February 2007: A 2nd demo for the song “Better” leaks to the internet. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed later says it was the version used for the short lived Harley Davidson commercial. “The version of 'Better' that they had was an unfinished, unapproved demo. That’s why it was removed.”

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February 22, 2007: Official update on GnR website from Del James regarding the album. “The good news is that all of the recording for the album has been completed. Drummer Frank Ferrer and guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal integrated themselves into the recordings seamlessly and will have their presence felt. There is no official release date, as the band is currently mixing, but after some delays and scheduling difficulties, things appear to be moving along.” March 2007: The first leg of Guns N' Roses’ 2007 World Tour is officially announced on the band’s website. It will include concerts in Japan and South Africa to start in April. March 2007: A demo for the song “Madagascar” is leaked to the internet. April 11th, 2007: GnR postpones the planned Japanese dates because Tommy Stinson has injured his wrist. April 26th, 2007: Official website announces the 2007 World Tour that will begin June 2nd in Monterrey, Mexico. The band states they will not be appearing at the MyCoke Festival in South Africa because of Tommy Stinson’s sprained wrist. The tour will visit Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The shows will feature “new songs from the band's forthcoming Chinese Democracy album, including "Madagascar," "IRS," and "Better." May 3, 2007: Lawyers for Axl Rose send a letter to a GnR fan forum. Regarding the album it states: "We've all waited this long for the album, we should be patient enough to wait to hear it in its final form. As far as the release of the album goes, all I can tell you is that I honestly believe we are getting close." May 5, 2007: Demos for the songs “The Blues” and “Chinese Democracy” leak online. Second demos for “I.R.S.” and “TWAT/There Was A Time” also leak. Fall 2007: Various websites report that the Chinese Democracy album has been turned over to Geffen records. However, Axl and the record company have not come to an agreement on how to release & market the album. This report is later confirmed by Axl’s longtime assistant Beta. March 26, 2008: The softdrink company Dr. Pepper announces that they will give everyone in America (except for former GnR guitarists Slash and Buckethead) a free can of Dr. Pepper if Chinese Democracy is released in 2008. Axl Rose responds on the GnR website: “We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr. Pepper with our album Chinese Democracy as for us this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead's performances are on our album I'll share my Dr. Pepper with him.”

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March 27, 2008: Axl Rose releases a statement on GnR’s official website: “I am very pleased to announce that Guns N’ Roses and I are now represented by the management team of Irving Azoff and Andy Gould. We are very excited and look forward to working with them and hope our relationship proves beneficial for everyone, especially the fans.” April 2008: Guitarist Robin Finck once again rejoins his Nine Inch Nails as their touring guitarist. June 18, 2008: The website AntiQuiet posts what they believe to be the entire Chinese Democracy album. They include download links to 9 fully mixed & mastered studio songs including the previously unavailable “If The World” and “New Song #2 (possibly ‘Prostitute’).” Also featured is an unheard studio version of “Riyadh & The Bedouins.” Guns n Roses lawyers act quickly shut down the links on the site and the FBI questions the leaker. However, the album quickly spread across the internet. News reports claim this is the complete version of Chinese Democracy that the band turned over to Geffen in the fall of 2007. The songs were downloaded and leaked to AntiQuiet by a former employee of the record company. CHINESE DEMOCRACY: LEAKED VERSION 1. Better (4:59) 2. Chinese Democracy (4:45) 3. I.R.S. (4:28) 4. Madagascar (5:41) 5. Riyadh & The Bedouins (3:42) 6. Unknown Song (possibly “Prostitute”) (6:11) 7. If The World (Would End Today) 4:55 8. The Blues (4:59) 9. There Was A Time (6:42) July 14, 2008: Guns n Roses official website announced that the band’s first new official song in 9 year, “Shacker’s Revenge” will be released in September as part of the video game Rock Band 2. August 14, 2008: "Shackler's Revenge" leaks onto the internet. MAIN SOURCES: “Here Today Gone To Hell” website. MyGnR Forum Newswire NY Times Article: “Most Expensive Album Never Made” Guns n Roses Official Website.

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