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JIMMY BAIN: Former RAINBOW And DIO Bassist Dies Of Lung Cancer Aged 68
January 23rd, 2016

Jimmy Bain

Jimmy Bain, bassist of Last In Line and formerly of Rainbow and Dio, died on January 23rd, 2016 at the age of 68 due to complications from lung cancer.

Last In Line were scheduled to perform on Def Leppard’s Hysteria On The High Seas Cruise on January 24th. Bain had been receiving treatment for pneumonia, his swansong performance taking place on the 20th at the Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida. Last In Line debut Heavy Crown is due to be issued on February 19th.

James Stewart Bain was born on December 19th, 1947 in Newtonmore, Highland, Scotland. Bain performed in several Scottish acts, subsequently relocating to London to join the ranks of Harlot in early 1974.

In 1975, former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore recruited Bain to occupy the bass position in Rainbow, which included erstwhile Elf member Ronnie James Dio as frontman. An inaugural world tour commenced for Rainbow on November 10th, 1975 in Montréal, Canada.

Second Rainbow full-length was recorded during February 1976 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, arriving in May of that year. Cut across several German and Japanese live dates, double-live LP Onstage surfaced in July 1977. Six months prior in January however, Blackmore dismissed Bain from Rainbow’s personnel. A European tour with John Cale followed for Bain.

Wild Horses was formed in the summer of 1978 with erstwhile Thin Lizzy axeman Brian Robertson, an outfit which released two efforts in the form of a self-titled affair in April 1980, followed by May 1981 follow-up Stand Your Ground.

Bain’s Thin Lizzy association was strengthened when he lent bass to the Lizzy track ‘With Love’, included on April 1979’s Black Rose: A Rock Legend. Thin Lizzy bassist / lead vocalist Phil Lynott issued the two solo full-lengths Solo In Soho and The Philip Lynott Album in April 1980 and September 1982 respectively; on the former, Bain co-wrote the numbers ‘Dear Miss Lonely Hearts’ and ‘Girls’, Bain co-writing the tracks ‘Old Town’ and ‘Ode To Liberty (The Protest Song)’ on the latter. And as well, the four-stringer sessioned on July 1983 studio record Dirty Fingers, a solo outing from ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore.

Bain originally cut bass parts for March 1984 Scorpions jaunt Love At First Sting, bassist Francis Buchholz having disagreements with drummer Herman Rarebell at the time. The two eventually reconciled, the album being re-recorded and featuring Buchholz in the bass position.

In late 1982, Bain reunited with former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio in Dio’s namesake band, co-writing four of the nine tracks which surfaced on May 1983 debut, including ‘Rainbow In The Dark’. Bain remained a member of Dio until 1989, appearing on the following subsequent studio outings; The Last In Line (July 1984), Sacred Heart (August 1985), and Dream Evil (July 1987). June 1986 live effort Intermission was also released during this period.

In 1999, Bain returned to the Dio fold, remaining for a five-year period which saw the respective issues of Magica (March 2000) and Killing The Dragon (May 2002).

Last In Line was formed in February 2012, which reunited Bain with former Dio members Vivian Campbell (guitars, Def Leppard) and Vinny Appice (drums, Black Sabbath). Taking its moniker from the 1984 album and title track of the same name, Last In Line’s original intentions were to perform material from Dio’s initial brace of three studio records. Recruited as frontman was ex-Hurricane vocalist Andrew Freeman, Ronnie James Dio having succumbed to complications from stomach cancer in May 2010.