Vivian Campbell: Last in Line’s Jimmy Bain ‘Died With His Boots On’

It's been a tough year for music fans as a rather large number of significant musicians have passed away during the calendar year, including bassist Jimmy Bain, who played with Rainbow, Thin Lizzy and Dio among others. At the time of his death, Bain was part of Last in Line, a collective of Dio members that had been paying tribute to the Dio legacy but had just recorded their first original album of material. Guitarist Vivian Campbell spoke with Talk Is Jericho podcast host Chris Jericho about Bain's passing, revealing that the band was unaware that he was suffering from cancer.

Bain's death coincided with Last in Line taking part in Def Leppard's cruise just ahead of their new album release. Campbell says, "This band and this record was really the only thing that Jimmy had in his life to focus on and he was focused on it intently. That was his beacon of light and that was his salvation in the last couple of years of his life. He believed in this project so much and he was so excited to be doing this, and that's why he should have never gone on that cruise."

When pressed about that statement, Campbell continued, "We didn't know he had cancer. I don't know if Jimmy did either, but we knew he had pneumonia. He had been diagnosed as having pneumonia and was taking antibiotics for it and he was not well. But Jimmy insisted on doing it and he wanted to do it. I'll say this about him. He was a true rock and roller to the end. He died with his boots on … literally. We literally found him in full regalia in that cabin on the ship and he was living it to the end. He believed in it so much and it was so sad that he never actually got to see it."

Shortly after Bain's passing, the new album arrived. But even with Bain's death, the group will continue. During the course of the podcast, Campbell revealed that Last in Line will record a second studio album in January. Hear more of the Talk Is Jericho podcast via Podcast One in the player below.

Hear Last in Line's Vivian Campbell + Phil Soussan on the Talk Is Jericho Podcast (via Podcast One)

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