Singer Andrew Freeman has publicly responded to his recent departure from Last In Line, characterizing the band’s choice to move on without him as a major misstep. During a May 27 appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk“, the vocalist 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, Andrew 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 (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
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. The band was initially established as a partnership consisting of Andrew Freeman, Vinny Appice, and guitarist Vivian Campbell, alongside the heritage of original Dio members like the late bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboardist Claude Schnell.
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 Andrew 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. Andrew 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.
