Sam Rivers, co-founder and bassist of nu metal band Limp Bizkit, died Saturday at age 48, his bandmates said in a post on social media.
“Today we lost our brother. Our group colleague. Our heartbeat,” vocalist Fred Durst, guitarist Wes Borland, drummer John Otto and turntable DJ Lethal wrote in a tribute. posted on Instagram Saturday evening.
“Sam Rivers wasn't just our bass player, he was a real magician. Pulse in every song, calm in chaos, soul in sound,” the message said.
“From the very first note we played together, Sam brought a light and rhythm that can never be replaced. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart huge.”
Limp Bizkit were set to kick off their Gringo Papi tour across seven cities in Latin America on November 29th.
At the time of publication, it was unclear whether the band would continue touring without Rivers.
“You will live on through your music and the lives you helped save through your music, charity work and friendship,” said DJ Lethal, a member of the group whose real name is Leor Dimant, in a comment on the post.
He asked fans to respect the Rivers family's privacy but to “give Sam flowers and play Sam Rivers' base games all day!”
Limp Bizkit, described as a nu metal band combining rap and rock, formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1994.
The breakthrough came five years later with the release of their second album. Significant other and hit single Nuki.
The album spent its first four weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart and was eventually certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after selling over seven million copies.
The band was nominated for Grammys in the categories “Best Rock Album” and “Best Hard Rock Performance”. Nukiat the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000.
Follow-up album Chocolate starfish and hot dog flavored waterfurther cemented the group's success when it also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in October 2000.
Limp Bizkit have released their sixth and final studio album. Still sucksin 2021.
The group did not provide details about Rivers' cause of death.
According to Hollywood ReporterRivers left the band in 2015 after being diagnosed with liver disease, but returned to the stage following a liver transplant in 2018.
Rivers said he became ill from “excessive drinking.”
“I had to leave Limp Bizkit in 2015 because I felt terrible, and a few months after that I realized I had to change everything because I had a serious liver disease,” Diversity reported that he told author John Wiederhorn about this in an interview for the 2020 book. Raising Hell: Behind-the-scenes stories from the lives of metal legends.
“I stopped drinking and did everything the doctors told me. I was treated for alcohol and had a liver transplant, which was perfect,” he said.
Rivers, born in Jacksonville on September 2, 1977, last performed with Limp Bizkit on stage at the Leeds Festival in Leeds, England, and the Reading Festival in Reading, England, in late August.
He shared the video on his Instagram account he said at the time that performing in Reading was “such a wonderful experience”.
Limp Bizkit's last concert in Canada was on April 26, when they performed at the Rogers Center in Toronto, supporting Metallica on their M72 World Tour.
Rivers' bandmates remembered him Saturday as a “once-in-a-lifetime man” and said his “spirit will live on forever in every track, every stage, every memory.”
“We shared so many moments—wild, quiet, beautiful—and each one meant more because Sam was there,” his bandmates wrote.
“Relax, brother. Your music never ends,” their statement concluded.
