On January 24th, former Rainbow / Dio bassist Jimmy Bain - most recently with Last In Line - passed away at the age of 68 during Def Leppard's Hysteria On The High Seas cruise. Frontman Andrew Freeman has posted a tribute to his fallen bandmate:

"As I am sure you all have heard, we lost our friend and bandmate Jimmy Bain over the weekend. I have had the pleasure of knowing Jimmy for about 10 years through a few music projects and our recent band, Last In Line.

I cannot stress the level of sadness and loss that I feel losing such a close friend and mentor. Jimmy, along with Vivian Campbell and Vinny Appice, welcomed me into their intimate artistic circle, entrusting me the responsibility of performing a legendary library of music and building a new one. I will be forever indebted to this man for the encouraging spirit he graced me with.

Rest easy, my friend. I will do my best to carry on your legacy."

Reports of Bain's death began circulating via social media a short time after his passing, and bandmate Vinny Appice isn't happy about it. He has posted the following message online:

"Yes, it's true our brother Jimmy Bain has passed and we are very sad about the news and in shock. We, the band, are also saddened that the news leaked out before we were able to contact Jimmy's family. Within an hour and a half, it was all over the internet and confirmed by people that have no business confirming anything about this and not knowing the facts of the situation.

"We apologize to Jimmy's family and Jimmy's memory about this nonsense that seems to prevail on the internet to be the first one to post something and attach themselves to a tragedy like the loss of our brother Jimmy."

As guitarist Vivian Campbell stated via social media: “It's with the heaviest of hearts that I must confirm the news of the passing of our dear friend and Last In Line bandmate, Jimmy Bain. It was Jimmy who gave me my first big break in the music industry and for that I am forever indebted. Jimmy was immensely proud of our new album and his input to it was immeasurable. We will continue to celebrate his life through his music. On behalf of Vinny and Andrew, our thoughts and condolences are with his family at this most difficult of times. Rest in peace, dear friend.”

The lyric video for “Blame It On Me” can be seen below:

The video for “Starmaker” can be seen below:

February 19th will see the release of the debut album from Last In Line, entitled Heavy Crown. The new song, “Martyr”, is streaming below.

Named after Dio’s 1984 studio album, The Last In Line, the band are on a mission to bring classic hard rock to fans who can’t get enough of the real thing. The album will be released on CD, CD/DVD (including a bonus track) and digital formats. Pre-order the album here.

Says guitarist Vivian Campbell, “When we started this project a few years ago, the initial idea was to reunite the original Dio band to play the songs we wrote and recorded with Ronnie in the early 1980’s. Joined by Andrew Freeman on vocals, we played a handful of shows in southern California, the UK, and Japan. It was a limited ambition, but it brought us great joy in reconnecting to this great music, to each other, and to our collective history.”

“When we first got together as the Last In Line line-up, our ambition at that time didn’t extend to writing and recording any new music, says Campbell, “but when we were offered the opportunity to do so by Frontiers, we decided to enter the studio to write this new album in the very same spirit as we did the Holy Diver album; Back in 1982 Ronnie, Vinny, Jimmy and I went into Sound City studios to kick around ideas and riffs, and about six weeks later we started laying down the tracks for what was to become the Holy Diver album.”

CD tracklisting:

“Devil In Me”
“Martyr”
“Starmaker”
“Burn This House Down”
“I Am Revolution”
“Blame It On Me”
“In Flames” (Bonus Track Deluxe Edition)
“Already Dead”
“Curse The Day”
“Orange Glow”
“Heavy Crown”
“The Sickness”

DVD tracklisting:

“Devil In Me” (video)
“Starmaker” (video)
Making of Heavy Crown

“Martyr”:

“Devil In Me” video:

(Photo: Ross Halfin)