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Sam Rivers, bassist and founding member of Limp Bizkit, dies aged 48
Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit performs onstage at KROQ Weenie Roast & Luau at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point in 2019.
(
Kevin Winter
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Getty Images for KROQ
)
Sam Rivers, bassist for rock band Limp Bizkit, has died. He was 48 years old.
Rivers' death was confirmed by the band, who wrote online on Saturday: "today we lost our brother".
"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," Limp Bizkit said in a social media post Saturday. "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."
The band did not share any details about his death.
Rivers' last post on social media was on Friday, in which he shared a "Save The Date" video for Limp Bizkit performing at the Rock for People festival in Hradec Králové, a city in the Czech Republic, in June 2026. Rivers and his bandmates last performed in August at the Leeds Festival in the United Kingdom.
In 2015, Rivers left the band after suffering from liver disease but rejoined the group in 2018.
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"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 said during an interview with Variety. "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."
The nu-metal band skyrocketed in popularity in the '90s, being nominated for three Grammys. Their hits, including "Rollin'" and "Nookie," also landed on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Fred Durst, fellow bandmate and frontman for Limp Bizkit, remembered the first time he heard Rivers play at a Jacksonville, Florida bar while searching for bandmates to form the group. Rivers was playing in a band at the bar and Durst said he was "killing it on the bass."
"I saw Sam play and I was blown away," Durst recalled in a video posted on social media Sunday morning. "He's playing a five-string bass too. I'd never really seen someone using a five-string bass… he was so smooth and good and he stood out. I could hear nothing else but Sam… everything disappeared besides his gift."
When he approached Rivers after his performance and told him that he wanted to form a band, Durst said the bassist didn't hesitate.
"He looked at me and he says ,'Killer. I'm in. Let's do it'," Durst recalled. "I've gone through gallons and gallons of tears since yesterday and… I'm thinking, 'My God, Sam's a legend….he did it. He lived it.'"
Limp Bizkit's new single, "Making Love to Morgan Wallen," topped several Billboard charts in September.
Copyright 2025 NPR
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