Limp Bizkit have paid tribute to founding bassist Sam Rivers, who has died aged 48.
Sharing the news in a poignant tribute on social media, the band write: “Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat.
“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. 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.
We shared so many moments – wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones – and every one of them meant more because Sam was there.
He was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of human. A true legend of legends. And his spirit will live forever in every groove, every stage, every memory.
We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends. Fred, Wes, John & DJ Lethal.”
Sam Rivers’ cause of death has not been disclosed at the time of writing.
Rivers was born in 1977 in Jacksonville, Florida, where he later founded soon-to-be nu metal titans Limp Bizkit in 1994, alongside frontman Fred Durst.
He played on all of the band’s six studio albums: Three Dollar Bill, Y’all$ (1997), Significant Other (1999), Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000), Results May Vary (2003), Gold Cobra (2011), and Still Sucks (2021).
He took a brief period of time out from the band between 2015 and 2018 while he fought liver disease resulting from chronic alcohol abuse.
Speaking to author Jon Wiederhorn for his book Raising Hell in 2020, Rivers revealed the extent of his alcoholism: “The doctor said, ‘If you don’t stop, you’re going to die.’ I had really bad liver disease. I quit drinking and did everything the doctors told me. I fought liver disease for a couple of years and it won. I had to get a liver transplant in 2017.”
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