Photo by Christopher Lee Helton
Vinny Appice thinks back to his bandmate Jimmy Bain passing away on the first ever Def Leppard cruise
Drummer Vinny Appice (Last In Line, ex-Dio, ex-Black Sabbath) was recently interviewed by Brian Sword on The Double Stop podcast.
Appice is one of the original Last In Line members along with singer Andrew Freeman (ex-Lynch Mob, ex-Great White) and former Dio bandmates Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Jimmy Bain (bass). Unfortunately, Bain passed away from lung cancer at age of 68 on January 24, 2016 while on the first ever Def Leppard cruise and he was later replaced by Phil Soussan in Last In Line.
With respect to Bain‘s death, Appice stated (as provided by The Double Stop podcast): “We were doing the cruise with Def Leppard. So we played on the Thursday night at the hall before the boat leaves. And that was good. Jimmy was a little weak. He wasn’t looking great. But he’s Jimmy, you know, he gets through everything. The morning of the boat leaving, and he’s over there smoking a cigarette, it’s like, only Jimmy. So we got on the boat and we didn’t have to play until Sunday. So we said, okay, you could rest, you know, anything you need, they’ll bring it to you. They had like a butler for the whole band and stuff. And so Jimmy stayed in his room and they took care of him.
Saturday night, Def Leppard‘s gonna play at the big showroom. So we’re sitting at the bar. And then we’re sitting there before Def Leppard goes on and this girl comes down in the bar, she’s crying. And somehow I knew it’s Jimmy. And I go, what’s up? Because it’s Jimmy, it’s Jimmy. And I knew he’d probably died. He’s in his room, he’s not moving. Oh shit, so I ran up, went up to his room and there he was, just sitting there. But he was dressed like a rock star. And feel him, he’s ice cold. Shit, you know, so I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any funny stuff in the room before the authorities get there. So everything looked fine. Just passed away.”
You can listen to the interview with Jimmy Bain on The Double Stop podcast below: