Former Rainbow / Dio Bassist Jimmy Bain Dead at 68
Jimmy Bain, who made his name as a bassist with Rainbow and Dio, has died at the age of 68.
Bain died while taking part in Def Leppard‘s Hysteria on the High Seas cruise as a member of Last in Line, a band formed in 2013 comprised of musicians who played on Dio’s first two records — Bain, guitarist Vivian Campbell and drummer Vinny Appice — and vocalist Andrew Freeman. The band is set to release their debut album, Heavy Crown, on February 20.
It has been confirmed that Bain had died in his cabin on Saturday night – adding an element of tragedy to the Hysteria on the High Seas cruise. The cause of death has not yet been determined, though Bain reportedly had been suffering from pneumonia-like symptoms.
A native of Scotland, Bain was in Rainbow from 1975-77, where he met and first collaborated with Ronnie James Dio on 1976’s Rising. He later joining Dio in 1983. After four studio albums together, Bain left in 1987, but rejoined in 1998 and stayed until Dio’s death in 2010.
Def Leppard and Last in Line guitarist Vivian Campbell posted on Facebook:
“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’s struggles with his demons were well documented through the years, but over the last 18 months, he had finally won that battle and he was bright and lucid and motivated throughout the writing and recording of the new record. He leaves behind him a rich legacy of work from Rainbow, through Wild Horses, Dio, and finally, Last in Line.
“Jimmy was immensely proud of our new album and his input to it was immeasurable. He was a very kind and gentle and generous soul and our lives were greatly enriched for having known him. 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.”
Ronnie James Dio‘s widow, Wendy Dio, posted on Facebook:
Last in Line Pay Tribute to Jimmy Bain on Def Leppard Cruise
Last in Line played an emotional tribute performance in Bain’s honor after his death.
Last in Line, with replacement bassist Eric Brittingham from Cinderella, played the tribute the night after Bain died while on board Def Leppard‘s first Hysteria on the High Seas cruise.
Like fellow Last in Line members Vinny Appice and Vivian Campbell, Bain was a co-founding member of Dio. So little surprise that the tribute set included Ronnie James Dio-sung favorites, including “Holy Diver,” “Man on the Silver Mountain” and “Rainbow in the Dark,” the latter of which Bain co-wrote.
Check out the Fan-shot video here.
Last in Line have also released two songs, “Blame it on Me” and “Starmaker”, from their upcoming debut album, Heavy Crown, as a tribute to Bain.
On The Road
Joe Elliott Forced to Sit Out Def Leppard Cruise Show Due to Laryngitis
In yet more drama on the High Seas cruise, frontman Joe Elliott, who was suffering from severe laryngitis, was forced to sit out the Saturday night performance on Def Leppard’s Hysteria On The High Seas cruise last weekend.
Def Leppard members Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell filled in on vocals, as did Last In Line’s Andrew Freeman, Mr. Big’s Eric Martin and Winger’s Kip Winger.
Elliott had already taken part in an unplugged storytellers concert and VIP reception at the ship’s Pantheon Theatre. There, Def Leppard also paid tribute to David Bowie, who recently passed. But without Elliott, Def Leppard was forced to cut short the next show, performing only seven songs.
You can see fan-shot video of several of these performances here.
Def Leppard reportedly offered free tickets to disappointed cruise fans for future Def Lep shows in their hometowns.
Dee Snider Confirms Twisted Sister Officially Calling It Quits
When Twisted Sister lead singer Dee Snider was asked by the Washington Times if this is definitely the end of Twisted Sister, he said, “Most definitely. I never intended to be doing this, Twisted Sister, at this point in my life. If you watch the [Parents Music Resource Center] Senate testimony [in the 1980s], at one point I said, “I plan on being well retired by 35.” The “well-retired” part didn’t work out. To be here at 60 and going out for the farewell shows seems a little bit overdue. [laughs]
“It’s not that I don’t love the guys. It’s not that I’m not proud of my past. I just want to leave with a certain degree of dignity. Leave people with a smile on their face. As opposed to them leaving, shaking their heads, saying, “I remember when they were really good.”
I had been saying to the band, “Guys, we’ve got to call it a day. At some point there has to be an end. Now we have been reunited more years than we were together the first time.” A reunion is not supposed to go on forever, contrary to what Kiss does.
“When drummer AJ Pero passed away, the rest of the guys sort of said, ‘You know what, we get it. It seems a logical time to finish things up.’ Our 40th year is coming up, so we decided it would be cool to do some shows to say goodbye.
Snider said chances of a comeback tour are nil, although agents push for it.
“That is part of the problem: Agents are going out there and saying, ‘Twisted is not doing a tour. They’re just doing a handful of shows. Then they’re done.’ Bookers are saying, ‘Yeah, right, until next year.’
“They’ve seen with Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss and the Scorpions, these bands have nothing else going on. They find themselves in retirement and go, ‘Well, this kinda blows.’ That is not the case with me. I have a lot going on creatively. I don’t feel like I’m going to have to go running back to find an outlet.”
Read the rest of the interview at the WashingtonTimes.com.
In other Twisted news, Twisted Sister will perform at the first annual Vegas Rocks! Hair Metal Awards, set to take place Sunday, May 15 at the Casablanca Event Center At Eastside Cannery Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. There will be historic performances with honorees and participants, including a special all-star celebrity jam for the finale of the show.
The event will be co-hosted by the “publishing queen of rock n’ roll” Sally Steele, Vegas Rocks! Magazine publisher/founder/CEO. Sally’s co-host this year will be Nick Hawk from Showtime’s hit television series “Gigolos”.
Dee Snider Signs Deal For New Solo Album
Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider has signed a record deal to release a new solo album entitled Now.
Snider said in an podcast interview with Mitch Lafon, “I’ve been approached by some top songwriters who said, ‘Dee, you’re iconic, and we think we can bring you to the masses with contemporary rock music.’ And I was, like, ‘Let’s do it.’ They came to me. These are people who write for Kanye, they write for Katy Perry, they write for Pink, they write for Taylor Swift… They’re top pop songwriters. And they said, ‘Listen…’ This guy’s name is Damon Ranger. And he says, ‘You’re iconic. You’re the voice of rebellion. And I think with the right songs, you could reach a whole new audience — a mainstream rock audience.’ And I said, ‘You’ve got songs?’ He goes, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Let’s give it a try.’ So we demoed one song, called ‘We Are The Ones’, which is a real Active Rock… it’s hard, but it’s not metal. And it came out great. So we went into the studio and recorded four more songs. And I just signed two [record] deals, and we’re going back into the studio to finish the album at the end of February. And I’m not sure when we’re gonna release it.”
He continued: “I’ve been challenged to transform myself at the ripe old age of 61, and I like being challenged. It was almost a dare. I don’t wanna say it’s out of my wheelhouse, ’cause it’s my voice. But this stuff is very different. It’s edgy. Think Foo Fighters, think Queen stadium anthem [type of sound], think that kind of mainstream rock. So it’s still crunchy, and it’s still got attitude, but it’s not ’80s rock. It’s contemporary-sounding stuff.”
Snider admitted that it will be a tall order convincing rock music fans to embrace his new sound. “Will they be able to say, ‘Oh, Dee Snider — new contemporary rock music. Can we accept Dee Snider?’” he said. “So far… Like I said, we demoed [several songs] and we got record deals, so we’ve got people who see it and hear it and believe it. So we’ll continue down this path and we will see.”
Check out the interview, here.
AC/DC Files Federal Lawsuit Against Tour Merch Bootleggers
TMZ are reporting that AC/DC is moving to block all non-authorized sales of its merchandise during their upcoming tour.
Says TMZ: “The band’s filed a federal lawsuit to get cops to shut them [those guys you see hawking t-shirts and hats outside the arena] down. The tour starts February 2 in Tacoma, and they’re asking the court to launch a full scale attack against merch bootleggers – sending US Marshals and cops to the Tacoma Dome to arrest all offenders and seize all bogus goods. They’re asking for the same show of force in other cities too.”
AC/DC earned $180 million on the road last year … topped only by Taylor Swift.
Odds N’ Sods
Michael Schenker Slams the Scorpions and His Brother Rudolph
Former Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker has slammed his old band Scorpions, saying they took advantage of him in his early days and that their decision to keep touring after their farewell concerts is “fooling people.”
Schenker, who had two stints with the band and left for good in 1979, directed his anger towards his former bandmate and brother Rudy, telling Gigs And Festivals, “There are things that I know today, and I must say I’m actually very disappointed in my brother [Rudy Schenker] because I just found out that a lot of things have been incorrect in the past.
“Me, being seven years younger than the other guys, I think I was taken advantage of right from the beginning. I wrote most of the songs on Lonesome Crow and it was credited to all members. I was focusing on music, and they were maybe focusing on business. I have no idea, but they didn’t know how to write songs in those days.”
In September, Rudy Schenker said it would “be a great thing to do” if he and Michael were to record together again. But as for a Scorpions reunion, Schenker says it won’t happen.
He said, “I don’t pay attention to any of that. I focus on what I’m doing. I’m fed up with that, and I’m disappointed in them.”
Sebastian Bach Finally Sells New Jersey Home Deemed “Uninhabitable” After Hurricane Irene
According to NJ Advance Media, former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach has sold the Lincroft, New Jersey home that was condemned after massive flooding from Hurricane Irene in 2011. The house that was once featured on MTV’s “Cribs” went for $272,500 — about $85,000 less than what he paid for it more than 25 years ago.
Bach, who has been living in Los Angeles for the past few years, tells NJ Advance Media, “To me, New Jersey is Skid Row. That’s why I moved there. That’s the reason I bought a house there. […] So without Skid Row, I can’t be in New Jersey.”
Tributes
Thin Lizzy to Play Anniversary Shows
Thin Lizzy have announced live dates to mark the 30th anniversary of Phil Lynott’s death and to celebrate 40 years since their Jailbreak release. They’re planning a handful of shows over the next year or so, with the first taking place at the Ramblin’ Man Fair in the UK on July 23 this year.
The second set of shows will be onboard the Rock Legends Cruise from January 19-23, 2017. The lineup featuring guitarists Scott Gorham and Damon Johnson, frontman Ricky Warwick and keyboardist Darren Wharton, and they have also invited Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee to join them.
Gorham says: “With Black Star Riders taking some time off the road to work on their third album, I thought it would be really cool to do some Thin Lizzy shows as it’s an anniversary year, to have some fun and to re-live the good old days.
“We will only do half a dozen or so dates to keep them special. For personal reasons Brian Downey won’t be with us but we have the incredible Mikkey Dee on the drum stool, which we are all very excited about. We will announce who is on bass shortly.”
NHL Star Wears Image of Motörhead’s Lemmy On Goalie Mask
Montreal Canadiens goalie Ben Scrivens is paying tribute to Lemmy Kilmister with a new mask featuring an image of the late Motörhead legend. NHL.com reports the mask features a portrait of Kilmister’s head inside the ace of spades symbol on one side of the mask, while the other side includes the logo of Canadian rockers Alexisonfire.
Fan’s Lemmy Tattoo Wins Artist “Best Color Portrait”
Motörhead fan Zachury Farkas has posted a time lapse video documenting his Lemmy Kilmister portrait tattoo, done by artist Evan Olin, who is based out of Cranston, Rhode Island. His new tattoo of Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister won “Best Color Portrait” earlier this month at the DC Tattoo Expo in Arlington, VA.
MetalHeads Say The Damnedest Things
“What I will miss most is the reckless abandon that a Twisted Sister show had. I love that when I’m up there, I throw my body on the ground, I crawl around on all fours, I thrash and headbang and whip my head around. I will miss that.
But I can’t do that forever. I don’t want to drop to the ground on all fours at one point because my hip broke! [laughs] Gravity wins. Everyone gets pulled into the dirt at some point.”
~ Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, asked what he will miss most about playing with Twisted Sister, who are disbanding in 2016.