2001.05.11 - Billboard - Guns N' Roses Euro Tour Up In The Air

Guns N' Roses Euro Tour Up In The Air

A planned 15-date European Guns N' Roses tour is in limbo due to health concerns relating to guitarist Buckethead. A management spokesperson tells Billboard.com that the dates -- set to begin June 1 at the Rock Im Park festival in Nuremberg, Germany -- are "all on as of right now." The spokesperson added that the band is waiting to receive results of Buckethead's medical tests before making a decision about the tour.

The statement is contrary to published reports suggesting that Buckethead's health has already been deemed too fragile for the trek to go off as planned. The guitarist was healthy enough to play a solo show late last month in San Francisco, and is due to release a solo album, "Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse," next month on Stray Records.

As for Guns N' Roses' eternally delayed Interscope/Geffen/A&M album, Merck Mercuriadis of Sanctuary Music Management told Billboard earlier this month that the project should be completed this fall. The group, which now includes lone original member lead singer Axl Rose, has not released a new album since 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident," a collection of covers.

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y