Former Last In Line vocalist Andrew Freeman is speaking out about his sudden and impersonal dismissal from the hard rock group. During a recent appearance on the “Hard Rock History Show“, the singer responded to recent comments made by drummer Vinny Appice and detailed the intense frustrations surrounding his exit last September.
Freeman was officially let go via an email from the band’s management rather than a direct conversation with his bandmates, a lineup originally founded by former Dio members Appice, guitarist Vivian Campbell, and the late bassist Jimmy Bain.
Addressing the situation, Freeman expressed his shock at the lack of direct communication:
“I’m surprised at how it went down… But that’s those guys. That’s the three of those guys. They can’t do anything face to face… But all of this stuff could’ve been fixed with a conversation. It’s plain and simple. And I’ve had arguments with Vinny on the phone over the years. But he’s from Brooklyn; I’m from New York. You’re shout talking. You’re shout talking, and then it kind of, like, ‘Look, this is what I mean.’ And we always had [the kind of] relationship [where we] could get through stuff, because he’s talked me off the ledge sometimes and I’ve talked him off the ledge sometimes. He was a good friend, and maybe he still is. I don’t know. I don’t hear from him. But you don’t really hear about Vinny talking s**t about people when he does interviews, but he’s talking s**t about me now. And I don’t go for that s**t. If you got something to say, back it up. Call me. F**k, call me. We’ll talk it out. Even if it doesn’t fix the band, we’re still in business together.”
Reflecting on his 13-year tenure with the outfit, the singer emphasized the sheer volume of behind-the-scenes work he handled to keep the project moving forward, from songwriting and production to business operations.
“I created that branding for that band, I toplined all those songs, I wrote all those — more than 50 percent, sometimes, of some of those songs, and gave away publishing so it was like a Van Halen split, where everybody gets 25 percent of what happens, even though 50 percent, if not more, happened in this room [in my home studio]. The vocal tracking, the arranging happened in this f**king room. With no hesitation I’ll tell you I did more work on those records than any of those guys did. And they can f**king say whatever they want, but they’re full of s**t. Because when you walk in and put maybe three or four days to track a record, and then you leave and you don’t come back to it, and then you leave it to somebody to make these f**king things songs, that’s not an easy task. And somebody’s gotta be able to do it, and I was the guy who did it,” he said.
Freeman further stressed that he is a legal partner in the Last In Line business entity, meaning his departure requires a formal resignation and a financial settlement.
“But, yeah, I’d rather just have a conversation about it and get it done and keep it out of this. So when a guy who doesn’t talk about anybody else all of a sudden gets a bug up his a** because, for whatever f**king reason, it’s hard for me to kind of get my brain around that because, again, I did the songwriting, I did the branding. All the merch designs I did. I’m a partner in the company. I’m not a hired guy. I’m a partner. So I have to resign from the company in order for them to move on,” he stressed.
Freeman further stated that he is entitled to his share of the business as a partner. He also pointed out a glaring double standard regarding other touring commitments, noting that someone complained about his brief stint singing for Great White, despite Campbell‘s massive ongoing obligations to Def Leppard.
“Of course I am. Just be cool. If you’re not happy with what I’m doing — believe me, I’m not super happy with you guys either, because you’re affecting my career. And getting back to [when I was briefly in] Great White, there was a guy [in Last In Line] who called the agent and said, ‘Why are you trying to poach our singer [for another band]?’ Like, trying to poach our singer? What are we doing? Should I call Def Leppard‘s manager, and be, like, ‘Hey, why are you poaching our guitar player for our dates? Why is our guitar player leaving in the middle of a U.K. tour and flying back to L.A. to announce a Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard mega tour while I’m sitting in a hotel for four days waiting to go back on the road, not getting paid?’ We’re supposed to be patient for each other, we’re supposed to work together, especially on a project that is a glorified side project. It was a full-time job for me, doing the web site and doing the social media — like, all of that s**t is me. So you’re gonna get rid of me? Cool. Write me a check. Cool. Be cool about it. Say, ‘Hey, we wanna work something out.’ Don’t just give me a letter, like, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll send you a release that you can sign.’ Like, f**k you. F**k you. I don’t have to do anything. It’s gonna cost you more money. So that’s fine. Whatever. Anyway, I’m probably saying too much.”
During a May 27 appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk“, Freeman clarified the timeline of his exit and addressed recent comments made by drummer Vinny Appice.
While Vinny Appice publicly revealed that Last In Line was actively searching for a new frontman during a March 25 broadcast, Freeman stated that he actually learned of his termination months prior through formal correspondence.
“No, it’s not the first [time I heard about it]. I knew it, but they had never done me the courtesy of making an official announcement. I got a letter back in September of last year, and I think that they thought there was gonna be a bigger reaction from me, and I didn’t have one. They e-mailed me — they had the manager e-mail me a letter. So I got a letter basically saying that they were moving on without me, with the name… I did find out about it, but there was just complete silence up until [Vinny spoke about it on] your show,” he said.
A formal public statement regarding the lineup change has not yet been issued by Last In Line. Andrew Freeman explained that the situation is complicated by the band’s internal corporate structure, noting that he is a legal partner in the business entity rather than a session worker.
Expressing his frustration with the decision to alter the lineup after nearly a decade and a half, Andrew Freeman remarked:
“For me, personally, I think it’s completely asinine, the decision they’ve made what to do. Straight up, it’s asinine, because we have business together. [It’s asinine] to get rid of me — to get rid of anybody at this point, because basically you are trying to win your audience over, and you’ve won your audience over to a degree. because we tour and people show up. And people get the records, and they know the songs, blah, blah, blah, all of that. So it’s an international touring act. You’ve established yourself over 14 years with a guy who’s replaced [Ronnie James Dio], one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic singer in the history of rock music. And he’s been accepted by the majority of the people that come to see you.”
During his own “Trunk Nation” appearance in March, Vinny Appice alleged that Freeman lacked enthusiasm for performing classic Dio material, pointing out that the singer is now performing full Dio sets with a project called Dio Rules. Freeman flatly rejected this claim, countering that guitarist Vivian Campbell was typically the member pushing to exclude the classic catalog in favor of original material.
Recalling a specific compromise at the Download Festival in England, where Last In Line shared a bill with Vivian Campbell‘s primary band, Def Leppard, Andrew Freeman stated that Vivian Campbell requested an entirely original set. The frontman insisted on keeping at least one heritage track, resulting in the band closing with “Rainbow In The Dark“.
Freeman emphasized that he always advocated for maintaining a balanced setlist containing both original songs and Dio staples to sustain headline shows.
“At the end, we were doing a half-and-half set. It was maybe a little more Dio than our stuff, but we’d do about 12 or 15 songs per show, so it was about six [Dio songs] and six [Last In Line songs], or seven and five or whatever. So it wasn’t like we could sustain an entire show, I believe, doing just our material… I mean, we could if we were opening for somebody maybe, but to go out and do a headline run, I think a lot of people would scoff if we came out and we didn’t do ‘Holy Diver‘. They wanna see that stuff,” he said.
The vocalist also rejected the idea that Last In Line operated merely as a tribute act, noting his refusal to mimic Ronnie James Dio‘s physical appearance on stage. “I’m not gonna put a wig on. I’m not gonna dye my hair to look a certain way. I’m gonna go out, I’m gonna be me, but I’m gonna sing the s**t out of the stuff,” he added.
The singer further detailed how the band’s sparse, unpredictable schedule hindered his professional growth and impacted his financial stability. Andrew Freeman revealed that his commitment to Last In Line caused him to lose a permanent position with Great White due to scheduling conflicts, despite Last In Line only booking a handful of live dates during that period.
He expressed deep dissatisfaction with how the creative output was framed publicly, explaining that he handled a massive portion of the songwriting responsibilities in the studio while other members focused on higher-profile commitments.
“I guess that’s where the loyalty comes, because this is my band. This is my band. I’ve written 50% of every song, and that’s being kind. 50% of every song that we’ve done. There’s maybe one or two songs that one of the guys came up with a lyric here, one of the guys came up with a couple of lyrics here. But I sit in my room in my studio, and I just work, work, work, work, work. And that’s the frustrating part, because I put a lot of work into these records, a lot more work than those guys have,” he explained.
Andrew Freeman recalled a specific period during the recording of the band’s sophomore album, II, when Vivian Campbell was away on a multi-million dollar summer tour with Def Leppard. Andrew Freeman spent the entire month of August tracking vocals in the studio without upfront compensation, only for the press to attribute the record’s success entirely to Vinny Appice and Vivian Campbell.
The band’s latest studio release, Jericho, arrived following the pandemic, but the group failed to launch a comprehensive touring cycle behind it. While Andrew Freeman indicated that he remains open to finishing the remaining four unreleased tracks the band has already completed, his primary focus is now on safeguarding his income and career outside of the project.
Last In Line has not yet announced a permanent replacement vocalist, though Vinny Appice previously noted they are reviewing video submissions from potential candidates.
