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Sam Rivers, the bassist and founding member of the US nu metal group Limp Bizkit, has died aged 48, the band has announced.
In a social media post, the band described Rivers as “pure magic”. “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.
“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.”
The band said they would carry Rivers’ memory with them and that his music “never ends”.
The cause of death was not revealed.
The three-time Grammy-nominated band was formed in Jacksonville in 1994 when Rivers and his childhood friend, the drummer John Otto, met vocalist Fred Durst, who had been working at fast food chain Chick-fil-A with Rivers. Limp Bizkit’s full band was formed two years later in 1996 with guitarist Wes Borland and turntablist Leor Dimant, known professionally as DJ Lethal.
They achieved mainstream success with their albums Significant Other (1999) and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000), which topped the charts in the US. The band have been credited for helping bring heavy music into the mainstream.
open image in gallery
Sam Rivers, John Otto, Fred Durst, DJ Lethal and Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit pictured in 2009 (PA)
The band’s most popular song, the raucous 1999 anthem “Break Stuff”, featured Rivers’ heavy, roaring basslines as Durst delivered the iconic chorus refrain, “It’s just one of those days….”
DJ Lethal said on Instagram that Rivers helped save lives through his music, charity work and friendship. “Give Sam his flowers and play Sam Rivers’ basslines all day! We are in shock. Rest in power my brother! We are heartbroken,” he wrote.
Rivers briefly left the group in 2015 due to liver disease developed from excessive drinking. He subsequently received a liver transplant and rejoined the band three years later, playing with the group until his death.
The group released a new single, “Making Love to Morgan Wallen”, in September. The band had toured the UK and Europe earlier this year – with a headline slot at Reading and Leeds festival in August – and is scheduled to play several dates across Latin America in November and December.
It has been four years since their last album, Still Suck.