Ronnie James Dio's wife and manager Wendy Dio has paid tribute to late DIO and RAINBOW bassist Jimmy Bain, calling him "one of the greatest musicians" and "a kind, happy, sweet man." Bain died over the weekend at the age of 68. He passed away while the DIO offshoot band LAST IN LINE was taking part in DEF LEPPARD's "Hysteria On The High Seas" cruise. No cause of death has been revealed, although it has been reported that he was ill for some time. Said Wendy in a statement: "I am in complete shock. We have just put Lemmy [MOTÖRHEAD] to rest and now days later we have lost another legend. "Jimmy was not only one of the greatest musicians, but a kind, happy, sweet man. "There will never be another Jimmy and I have lost a very dear friend. I would like to believe that he is jamming in Heaven with his friends Lemmy and Ronnie." Bain, along with drummer Vinny Appice and guitarist Vivian Campbell, was part of the original DIO lineup, which reunited in 2012 alongside singer Andrew Freeman to form LAST IN LINE. Bain had battled addiction issues throughout his life and has been to rehab on several occasions. In 2012 he was arrested for driving while drunk. He was also cited for possession of Vicodin pills without a valid prescription. In a 2012 interview with U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, Bain said about Campbell's exit from the original DIO lineup: "Viv did nothing that warranted his removal from the band in what is still considered to be a cowardly way. For me, firing Viv was the biggest mistake of Ronnie's career. The problem could've easily been resolved if there had a been a will to do so from Ronnie and Wendy." Bain also felt that DIO was in decline by the time the band released "Sacred Heart". "DIO should have gotten better with each album, but what happened was the opposite," Jimmy told Metal Hammer. "The production was watered down with all the keyboards, [and] the songs were not as good because it became harder to satisfy Ronnie's need to complicate arrangement and structure."
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