Last in Line

They did not play in Dio together again. Vinny Appice returned between 1993 and 1998 and Jimmy Bain between 1999 and 2004.

After the death of Ronnie James Dio in 2010, former Dio member Vivian Campbell, (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Def Leppard) set into motion the idea of reuniting the original members of Dio for the first time since his departure from the band in 1986. The idea came to fruition when he joined Vinny Appice, (Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) Jimmy Bain, (Rainbow, Thin Lizzy and Claude Schnell, (Rough Cutt, Y&T) for a jam session with vocalist Andrew Freeman (The Offfspring, Lynch Mob) in February 2012.

In May 2012, the group began performing live shows under the name Last in Line, named after the second album Dio released. They planned to play songs from the first three Dio albums: Holy Diver, The Last in Line and Sacred Heart. Rehearsals continued in the following weeks before Vivian Campbell had to re-join Def Leppard on their 2012 Rock of Ages Tour, which resumed in December. The band's first public performance took place on August 3, 2013, at the Slidebar in Fullerton, California. Every song from Holy Diver was played in addition to five tracks from The Last in Line and two from  Sacred Heart.

The show was conceived as a warmup show for a four date tour of the United Kingdom starting in Campbell's hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland on August 8 and continuing with three more shows in Britain over the next three days. The band continued performances in the US with a show at the Vinyl, Las Vegas on October 8 as well as Ramona Mainstage in California on October 12.

Vivian Campbell's former Sweet Savage bandmate Ray Haller filled in for Jimmy Bain during the band's next performance at Loudpark Festival in Tokyo on October 20. During 2015, as Campbell continued his battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma , and during a 100 date tour with Def Leppard in support of their 2015 self-titled effort, Last in Line did not tour, instead they set about finishing the recording of their debut album Heavy Crown. They joined Def Leppard on their Hysteria on the High Seas concert cruise from January 21–25, 2016, and played a pre-cruise show at Magic City Casino in Miami on January 20, debuting new songs from Heavy Crown with new keyboardist Erik Norlander.

Due to bassist Jimmy Bain's onboard death, they played an abbreviated tribute set on the last day. A scheduled tour for spring 2016 was cancelled. After auditioning bass players, bassist Phil Soussan, (Ozzy Osbourne) (Together with Ozzy he composed Shot in the Dark) joined the group to fulfill a small set of booked shows in April and May.

Last in Line began recording tracks for a new album of original material in April 2014, followed by the release of a snippet of the new track "Devil in Me" in June. The album, produced by former Dio bassist Jeff Pilson, was announced to have an expected release date in early 2016. On November 10, 2015, it was announced that Claude Schnell had left the band.

The rest wanted to retrace their footsteps in recording Holy Diver as a four-piece before he joined Dio. On November 17, the band released a music video for their premiere single "Devil in Me", and announced that their debut album, Heavy Crown, would be released on February 20, 2016. On January 24, bassist Jimmy Bain died while on Def Leppard's Hysteria on the High Seas concert cruise promoting  Heavy Crown.

Following his death, the band recruited Phil Soussan as its new bassist, initially to complete the band's touring commitments but during those shows it became evident that there was a chemistry in the new line up and with it, an undeniable reason to continue the band forward, toward a second album.

In March 2017, Vivian Campbell confirmed that the second album was "well underway" in an interview with Sirius XM. He stated that six songs had been written, and that the second album would be released in early 2018. The band had planned to finish it that year, but it had been pushed back due to members' existing commitments with Def Leppard. Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson, the producer of the album, then announced it would be released sometime in 2019. The album's title was revealed as II in November 2018.

The band now included seasoned bass player Phil Soussan for the recording of the album, which was released on February 22, 2019 via Frontiers Records. The II album did very well and the band toured extensively in support of the record. Another tour of Europe opening for Saxon showed the band being very well received and in the enviable position of a classic rock band being able to gain traction with original material. The culmination of this tour was a slot at the prestigious Download Festival in the U.K. During that show it was decided to play a set of predominantly all original material as an experiment,

the resulting performance giving a surge of confidence to the Last in Line concept, having been so exceptionally well received.

As with the rest of the industry, a heavy proposed touring schedule planned for 2020, including several major music festivals had to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In January 2020, the band recorded six tracks to form the basis for the new album, "Jericho", released on March 31, 2023, via earMUSIC. "With Last in Line, just as we did with Dio, we cut the basic tracks live," Vivian Campbell said.

"It's important for us to capture the energy of the syncopation of playing together in real-time, much like the energy of a live show. This record represents the best of both worlds: the spirit of an energetic band performance and the more reflective and nuanced qualities of our individual performances, too."

In 2022, Last in Line issued "A Day in the Life", a limited-edition silver disc EP that featured the Beatles track of the same name. It was produced by Phil Soussan with each part recorded from each member's home. It included a preview track, "Hurricane Orlagh", from "Jericho".

Jimmy Bain, passed away on January 23, 2016. Jimmy died in his cabin on Def Leppard's Hysteria On The High Seas cruise, the day before he was scheduled to perform with his group, Last In Line. Jimmy's cause of death was determined to be lung cancer. Jimmy Bain's Last In Line bandmate, Vinny Appice, discussed Jimmy's passing during an appearance on The Double Stop Podcast.

Vinny Appice says: "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.

Vinny Appice said: "Jimmy didn't know he had lung cancer, but he did know he had pneumonia and was receiving treatment for it. This didn't stop him or slow him down.

"We had four rehearsals four hours a day, then a flight to Miami for the Def Leppard rock cruise. A pre-sail gig and soundcheck was scheduled for the following day. At the gig, Jimmy played great and even sang that night while holding a heavy bass guitar on his back, never complaining or asking for help. Next day, we preceded to board the cruise ship for a five-day voyage of which we were scheduled to play Sunday, the fourth day. That gig never happened, as Jimmy passed away in his cabin the night before. We were devastated.

Jimmy was a trooper. He gave his all to the band he loved, the music he loved and the fans. He didn't want to let anyone down.I don't know anyone that would have attempted this schedule while being this sick and not feeling well. A trooper. He was so happy and proud of the new album we recorded. It so unfortunate and sad he didn't live to see it released."

"We were all looking forward to being on the road and playing together again. There was such a magic between us.

"Our prayers go out to his family and so many friends and fans who will miss the amazing person that was Jimmy Bain."

Heavy Crown (2016)

II (2019)

A Day in the Life (2022) ep

Jericho (2023)

Andrew Freeman – lead vocals (2012–present), piano (on II)

Vivian Campbell – guitar (2012–present)

Vinny Appice – drums (2012–present)

Phil Soussan – bass, backing vocals (2016–present), keyboards (on II)