Phil Soussan has addressed the departure of Andrew Freeman from Last In Line, discussing the drama and the band’s plans moving forward in comments shared via Eonmusic. Freeman had claimed the band gave him no reasons for his exit.
Soussan was asked about the recent drama in the band and Freeman’s departure. The bassist explained the band’s thinking on the split and outlined their direction going forward.
Question: “Speaking of Vivian, we have to talk about Last In Line. There was a little bit of drama earlier this year, and Andrew Freeman’s out. What can you tell me about that whole thing?”
“Not much. I think Andrew’s done a lot of interviews, and if you listen to his interviews, I think he makes it pretty clear why that happened,” Soussan said. “We’ve decided to move on into a new direction, a new chapter.”
He was then asked whether Last In Line would move away from celebrating the Ronnie James Dio era and become a band in its own right.
Question: “Obviously the band started off celebrating the Dio era, but do you foresee the band moving away from the Dio thing and being a band on its own?”
“I don’t know if that’s how we see it,” Soussan said. “I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but Viv sort of wants to get it closer to original material, but have it a little bit more inspired with that Dio thing. We’ll see whichever direction it goes.”
Soussan also discussed the band’s search for a new vocalist. “We are working with a person of great interest, who unfortunately I’m not at liberty to say because apparently, if I say something, they’ll take me out and beat me severely around the arms and chest,” he said. “So I’m sure you’ll be the first person to know. But this guy’s really, really good, and he has an incredible voice, a different range of his voice in terms of range of tones, and I think there’s going to be a lot of cool stuff to explore there. We’re all very excited about it. So that’s going to be good.”
The comments came as Last In Line works toward its next chapter following Freeman’s exit from the band.
Last In Line started in 2012 after the death of Ronnie James Dio in 2010, when drummer Vinny Appice, guitarist Vivian Campbell and bassist Jimmy Bain reunited with Andrew Freeman to perform Dio’s songs. The band’s original purpose was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio’s early work from his time with Dio, including the albums “Holy Diver”, “Last In Line” and “Sacred Heart”. Freeman was part of the band for 14 years and helped write the band’s material.
Phil Soussan took over as bass player in 2016 when Jimmy Bain passed away that year. The band went on to release three studio albums of original material between 2016 and March 2023, with their first album “Heavy Crown” reaching number 1 on Billboard’s “Heat Seeker” chart in 2016.
Drummer Vinny Appice announced Freeman’s departure in April 2026 during a podcast interview. According to Freeman, he learned he was being let go through a letter from the band’s manager in September 2025, with no other explanation given. The split came after the band had been inactive for two years while Vivian Campbell dealt with serious health issues.
Campbell’s cancer returned after a period of complete remission following a bone marrow transplant. The band has a deal in place for a new album, as Appice confirmed in March 2026 when speaking about the band’s future plans and direction moving forward.
