But no one forced him. He wanted this tour, he loved it.
As above.
Only he (and maybe John) knows, but my feeling is he wanted to make sure the other guys in the band were financially OK.
He made the OES album, and it was traditional at the time to tour significantly to promote the album. Once the rehearsals started and the enormity of playing two hour shows for over a year dawned on him, I think he massively regretted the decision and as a result was very grumpy to say the least for the next 14 months.
PS: It's funny how people who weren't there claim to know he 'loved it'.