Limp Bizkit co-founder Sam Rivers reportedly died on Saturday (Oct 18) while under medical care at his home in Florida for an unspecified illness.
The 48-year-old nu metal bassist, who previously spoke about having undergone a liver transplant, was initially reported as a “nonresponsive person in cardiac arrest,” a spokesperson for the St. Johns County Fire Rescue told TMZ on Tuesday (Oct 21).
“Deputies responded to an attended death at that address,” authorities confirmed to the outlet. An attended death, similar to someone being in hospice care, means the deceased had been receiving care for a likely life-threatening condition.
Despite how the Jacksonville native’s death was reported, an exact cause of death remains unclear.
Limp Bizkit on Saturday paid tribute to “the one and only Sam Rivers,” announcing on Instagram that they’d “lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat.”
“Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player – he was pure magic,” read a statement from founding frontman Fred Durst, guitarist Wes Borland, drummer John Otto and turntablist DJ Lethal. “[He was] the pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound.”
Rivers temporarily left Limp Bizkit in 2015 due to liver disease that stemmed from “excessive drinking,” as he explained in Jon Wiederhorn’s 2020 book, Raising Hell: Backstage Tales From The Lives Of Metal Legends.”
Rivers rejoined the band in 2018 after undergoing a liver transplant, and stayed with the group until his death. His last live performance was at the Leeds Festival in England on Aug 24.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Limp Bizkit was still slated to embark on their Central and South American Gringo Papi tour, kicking off Nov. 29 in Mexico City. The seven-date, seven-country tour is scheduled to end Dec. 20 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
