Sam Rivers, the founding bassist of Limp Bizkit, died Saturday. He was 48 years old. The group confirmed the news on social networks. The cause of death has not been released.
“Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” Limp Bizkit wrote on Instagram, sharing a photo of Rivers. “Sam Rivers was not only our bassist, he was pure magic. The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound.”
Rivers and Fred Durst met in Jacksonville, Florida, and first starred together in the short-lived Malachi Sage. In 1994, after the band’s failure, they teamed up with drummer John Otto to form Limp Bizkit. Soon after, guitarist Wes Borland joined, completing the original lineup which expanded to include DJ Lethal.
“From the first note we played together, Sam brought a light and rhythm that could never be replaced,” the band continued in its statement Saturday. “His talent was natural, his presence unforgettable, his heart immense.”
They released their first album, Three dollar bill, y’all in 1997. But it was their second album from 1999 My other halfpropelled by its single “Nookie,” which propelled the group to number one on the Billboard 200 and solidified its trajectory as a rap-rock giant.
Their third effort, Chocolate starfish and hot dog flavored water released in 2000, made history at the time, with the highest first-week sales for a rock album, eventually reaching multiplatinum status.
While Borland was in and out of the group starting in 2001 (he returned in 2004) and DJ Lethal also became involved as a member, Rivers and Otto remained with Limp Bizkit and performed on all of their records, and also provided backing vocals, before their first hiatus in 2006.
In 2015, Rivers left the group, reportedly due to degenerative disc disease, but he later revealed in the book Raising Hell (Behind-the-Scenes Tales from the Lives of Metal Legends) that he suffered from liver disease. “I had to leave Limp Bizkit in 2015 because I felt terrible, and a few months later I realized I had to change everything because I had a very serious liver disease,” Rivers reveals in the book. “I stopped drinking and did everything the doctors told me. I went through alcohol treatment and had a liver transplant, which was perfect,” he said in the book, according to Loudwire. He returned to the group in 2018 and remained a member until his death.
“We shared so many moments – wild moments, quiet moments, beautiful moments – and each of them meant more because Sam was there,” the surviving members of Limp Bizkit wrote in their statement.
“He was a once-in-a-lifetime human being. A true legend of legends. And his spirit will live on forever in every groove, every scene, every memory,” the band continued. “We love you, Sam. We will always carry you with us. Rest in peace, brother. Your music never stops.”
This is a developing story…
