Vivian Campbell “I hated all the albums that he played on with Ronnie James Dio, He Was one of the vilest people in the industry”
In a brand new interview with Glide Magazine, DEF LEPPARD and LAST IN LINE guitarist Vivian Campbell was asked when he is going to write his autobiography. He responded: “I’ve kind of been dragging my heels on that, and I kind of berate myself about it, because I really feel like I’ve got a lot to tell. I guess the thing is I’m not sure just exactly what kind of book I want to write, and I know the only way that question is going to answer itself is once I start writing, it’ll become apparent. But I don’t really want it to just be another book about ‘I did this and then I did that and then I met so-and-so.’ I don’t want it to just be a chronology of my life.”
He continued: “I actually really, really enjoy writing and I think that I express myself better in written words than through spoken words, and I’ve always felt that way. So I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to write one of those sort of books or what sort of book it would be. Then there’s the other added complication of, I’m very, very big on principle and truth and sometimes telling the truth gets you in a lot of trouble. It’s gotten me in a lot of trouble in my life, and all I’ve ever wanted to do is try and be upfront and candid. And I feel if I write, if I’m going to be true to myself and I really write things that are truthful, then I think I might piss some people off. [laughs]
One person that Vivian would likely have a lot to say about is his former bandmate Ronnie James Dio, who has called Campbell “a fucking asshole” and “a piece of shit.” Although Vivian has since expressed regret over referring to Dio as “one of the vilest people in the industry,” Campbell has consistently maintained that he was wronged by the now-deceased vocalist. “I didn’t quit that band,” Vivian has said. “They quit me. I’m proud of those [DIO] records and for years and years, Ronnie excluded me from that.” Vivian recently reunited the original DIO band with a new singer under the name LAST IN LINE, explaining: “I wrote those riffs. I’m going to take them back.”
In a May 2011 interview with Brazil’s Roadie Crew magazine, Dio‘s widow and manager Wendy stated about the controversy surrounding Ronnie‘s relationship with Campbell: “[Vivian] always said that he hated all the albums that he played on with Ronnie, and that was very hurtful to Ronnie. Very hurtful. Would you like someone who said something like that about your albums? He said a lot of things in the press that I don’t wanna get into, because it really wasn’t Ronnie‘s feud at all. Ronnie didn’t fire him. I fired [Vivian]. He wanted as much money as Ronnie wanted. He thought he was as important as Ronnie was, and that was just wrong. But I don’t wanna get into that. It’s water under the bridge. It doesn’t matter.”
Blabbermouth
