Sam Rivers Dead: Limp Bizkit Founding Member Was 48

Limp Bizkit founding member Sam Rivers has died, according to a statement from the band. He was 48.

Rivers’ bandmates Fred Durst, Wes Borland, John Otto and DJ Lethal released a joint statement on Saturday, October 18, announcing the loss of their “brother.” They did not specify a cause of death.

“Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” Limp Bizkit’s statement read. “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.”

They continued, “From the first note we ever played together, Sam brought a light and a rhythm that could never be replaced. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous.”

Rivers founded Limp Bizkit with vocalist Durst, 55, and drummer ​​Otto, 48, in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1994 and he became a mainstay on all of their studio albums. (The trio added guitarist Borland and turntablist DJ Lethal to complete the classic lineup in 1996.) However, the bassist announced he was taking an extended hiatus from the group in 2015 to deal with health issues.

Rivers subsequently revealed in Jon Wiederhorn’s book Raising Hell (Backstage Tales From the Lives of Metal Legends) that the long-term effects of drinking alcohol caused his departure from Limp Bizkit.

“I got liver disease from excessive drinking … I had to leave Limp Bizkit in 2015 because I felt so horrible, and a few months after that I realized I had to change everything because I had really bad liver disease,” Rivers acknowledged. “I quit drinking and did everything the doctors told me. I got treatment for the alcohol and got a liver transplant, which was a perfect match.”

Rivers eventually rejoined Limp Bizkit in 2018 and remained with the group until his death. In their memorial statement, Durst and his fellow bandmates looked back on Rivers’s legacy.