Guns N' Roses have announced that they are postponing the start of their world tour, which was due to start in Japan.

The Japanese concerts are being rescheduled. Guns N' Roses will be able to make their two scheduled performances headlining the MyCoke festivals in South Africa at the end of the month.

"I feel so bad right now," explains bassist Tommy Stinson. "I accidentally fell down a flight of stairs. I put my hand down to break my fall and heard a loud 'pop.' The next morning my hand looked like a balloon. I went to see my doctor, and while the good news is that it's not broken, the bad is news is it's severely sprained and I may have done some ligament damage. We had our last rehearsal a few days ago and shipped the gear to Japan and then this happened. I feel horrible.

"I'd like to apologize to our Japanese fans that were looking forward to seeing us and know that we will we see you all soon. Again, we'd like to sincerely thank our fans worldwide for their patience and support."