Sam Rivers, bassist of Limp Bizkit, has died at the age of 48, the band confirms on their official Instagram. “Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” Fred Durst, John Otto, Wes Borland, and DJ Lethal wrote in a joint statement on October 18. “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.” In a comment, DJ Lethal added, “We are in shock. Rest in power my brother! 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 ✌️.” At the time, the band did not share a cause of death. In a longer tribute shared on Sunday morning, Durst remembered how he first met Rivers and how Limp Bizkit formed in 1994. “He really did have an impact on the world, and his music and his gift is the one that’s going to keep on giving,” he shared in the video.
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Rivers left the band in 2015, after he was diagnosed with liver disease, before he rejoined three years later. “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 told writer Jon Wiederhorn for his book Raising Hell. “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.”
