Sam Rivers, Limp Bizkit co-founder and bassist, has died at the age of 48. His bandmates – Fred Durst, Wes Borland, John Otto, and DJ Lethal – paid tribute to Rivers in an emotional Instagram post on Saturday night (October 18). “Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” they wrote. “Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player — he was pure magic. The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound. We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there. We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Your music never ends.” DJ Lethal further honored Rivers in the comments by writing: “You will live on through your music and the lives you helped save with your music, charity work and friendships. We are heartbroken. Enjoy every millisecond of life. It’s not guaranteed.”
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Rivers was diagnosed with a rare liver disease in 2011 that caused him to take extended time off from the band, and he received a liver transplant in 2017 which led to him rejoining the group in 2018. A cause of death has yet to be revealed. Limp Bizkit first gained fame with their 1997 debut, Three Dollar Bill, Y’all, and scored Billboard No. 1 albums with 1999’s Grammy-nominated Significant Other, and 2000’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, and they recently returned to No. 1 on several Billboard rock charts with their newly released single, “Making Love to Morgan Wallen.” (Billboard)
