Axl Rose Settles Lawsuit With Loyal Roadie

Axl Rose is flush with cash these days which likely played a factor in settling the lawsuit filed by his longtime roadie and engineer Chris Pitman.

TMZ broke the story ... Pitman sued the GNR singer claiming he was owed $163,000 for his services from a few years back. He says Axl had promised to pay once he had more cash flow, but didn't make the 2012 deadline.

Sources tell us Axl and Chris reached a settlement this month and the case has been dismissed. Terms are confidential, but we're told Axl dropped some dough -- though much less than $163k -- to make the suit go away.

GNR reportedly grossed about $4 million per show on this year's tour. Mo' money, one less problem.