Limp Bizkit mourns bassist Sam Rivers, calling him irreplaceable

Sam Rivers, the bassist for nu metal band Limp Bizkit, died Saturday, according to social media posts from his bandmates.

The band did not reveal where Rivers died or under what circumstances, but praised him as “pure magic” and “the soul in the sound.”

“From the first note we played together, Sam brought a light and rhythm that could never be replaced,” they wrote in an Instagram post from the group. “His talent was natural, his presence unforgettable, his heart immense.”

Fred Durst, the group’s frontman and lead singer, released a video Sunday morning recounting how they met at a club in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and became music stars and performed around the world. Durst said he had shed “liters and liters of tears since yesterday.”

“He truly made an impact on the world and his music and his gift is one that will continue to give,” Durst said. “I love him so much.”

Rivers, 48, had spoken about excessive drinking that caused liver disease. He left the group in 2015 and received a liver transplant before reuniting with Limp Bizkit three years later.

Limp Bizkit has scheduled a tour of Central and South America beginning in Mexico City at the end of November.

Durst said he and Rivers shared a love of grunge music, naming the bands Mother Love Bone, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots.

“He had this kind of ability to extract this beautiful sadness from the bass that I had never heard,” Durst said, calling Rivers “so talented I can’t explain it.”

Limp Bizkit, from Jacksonville, Florida, emerged in the late 1990s with a sound blending alternative rock, heavy metal and rap.

Their quirky sense of humor is reflected in the songs from their hit 2000 album, “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water,” and in a single released last month, “Making Love to Morgan Wallen.”