Vivian Campbell on Last In Line ‘passion project’

Last In Line with Bain, second left
Last In Line with Bain, second left

Guitarist Vivian Campbell has called working in Last In Line a “passion project” and credited late bassist Jimmy Bain with making sure that any profits generated by the band were split equally.

Bain died just weeks before the Dio offshoot released their debut album Heavy Crown. But speaking about his work outside of Def Leppard, Campbell praised Bain’s vision for the band and says being able to perform in the outfit is a “labour of love.”

Campbell tells Rock Today: “Jimmy did feel that this was his band. We split everything equally – there’s no prima donnas in this band. We split all the songs four ways, regardless of who initiated the idea or who did the lion’s share of the work. It was very much a team effort and I think Jimmy really appreciated that.

“I think that makes for better music where’s there’s no other agenda involved, when you’re not thinking ‘OK, I’m going to get all the publishing on this song so I can make more money’. It’s all about the music and that’s all it’s about.”

Campbell says he and drummer Vinny Appice, vocalist Andrew Freeman, keyboardist Eric Norlander and bassist Phil Soussan are appreciative of the way fans have responded to Heavy Crown, and adds: “That really means a lot to us.

“We are not doing this for money, believe me! There’s fuck all money in this. I get plenty of money in my day job with Def Leppard. This is a passion project, this is very much a labour of love, and I’m very excited to do it.”

Earlier this month, Campbell said that Bain lived life to the fullest and “died with his boots on” when he passed away while onboard Def Leppard’s Hysteria On The High Seas cruise.

Last in Line are currently on tour in the US and will head to Europe for a run of shows next month.

Last In Line Heavy Crown tour dates

Oct 28: Orangevale Boardwalk, CA
Oct 29: Reno Rockbar Theater, NV
Oct 30: Las Vegas Vamp’d, NV
Nov 10: Pontypridd Hard Rock Hell, UK
Nov 13: Zwolle Hedon, Netherlands
Nov 14: Paris Le Trianon, France
Nov 16: Strasbourg La Laiterie, France
Nov 17: Stuttgart LKA Longhorn, Germany
Nov 18: Telfs Rathaussaal, Austria
Nov 19: Zlin Winter Masters Of Rock, Czech Republic
Nov 21: Warsaw Progresja Music Zone, Poland
Nov 22: Berlin Huzleys Neue Welt, Germany
Nov 23: Cologne Luxor Koln, Germany
Nov 25: London O2 Academy Islington, UK
Nov 27: Bristol Bierkeller, UK
Nov 28: Nottingham Rescue Rooms, UK
Nov 30: Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall, UK
Dec 01: Newcastle O2 Academy, UK
Dec 02: Sheffield Corporation, UK
Dec 03: Belfast Limelight, UK

Last In Line name Jimmy Bain replacement

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.