Jimmy Bain dead at 68

James Stewart Bain

December 19, 1947 - January 24, 2016

Jimmy Bain, bassist for bands such as Rainbow and Dio, died today. The news was confirmed by several news sources and former Dio bandmate Simon Wright. Bain was 68. The cause of death has yet to be revealed.

Bain was born in Scotland in 1947. His earliest recorded work can be found on Rainbow's 1976 sophomore effort, Rising. Rainbow, formed by former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in 1975. For their debut, the band consisted of Blackmore, singer Ronnie James Dio and members of Dio's previous band Elf. Blackmore was unhappy with the first album and decided to fire everyone except Dio. For Rising, Blackmore assembled a band more to his liking. Joining with Bain would be drummer Cozy Powell and keyboardist Tony Carey. For many,  Rising is considered to be Rainbow's best album. However, Bain was fired from the band in 1977. During the late 1970s, Bain worked with former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson. Together, the two formed Wild Horses. The band would release two albums in 1980 and 1981 before finally calling it a day. Bain also worked with other Thin Lizzy alum such as Gary Moore and Phil Lynott. Bain played on both of Lynott's solo albums. One of them, Solo in Soho, featured the track "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts"- a song written by Lynott and Bain. 

In 1983, Bain was recruited by former bandmate Ronnie James Dio to join Dio's namesake band- along with guitarist Vivian Campbell and drummer Vinny Appice. Bain would go on to play on the first four Dio studio albums (Holy Diver, The Last in Line, Sacred Heart, Dream Evil), along with 2000's Magica and 2002's Killing the Dragon. Before his death, Bain had been a member of Last In Line- a band formed in 2013 with former Dio members Campbell, Appice and Claude Schnell. With singer Andrew Freeman, the band performed the early era Dio songs. The band's debut album, Heavy Crown, is to be released on February 20. 

It's sad to hear of Jimmy's passing. He was a great bassist with a lot of credentials under his belt. When I saw Dio in 2003, he was the bassist for the band at the time. 

RIP Jimmy.