Limp Bizkit stunned fans in October 2025 by announcing the death of founding member Sam Rivers at age 48.
Rivers’ Limp Bizkit bandmates Fred Durst, Wes Borland, John Otto and DJ Lethal released a joint statement on October 18, 2025, to verify the lack of their bandmate from undisclosed causes.
“Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” Limp Bizkit’s statement read. “Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player — he was pure magic. The heartbeat beneath every song, the calm within the chaos, the soul within the sound.”
The bassist was a founding member of the rap-metal group and remained with Limp Bizkit until a serious health crisis forced him to take a three-year break in 2015. Rivers made a triumphant comeback to Limp Bizkit in 2018 and continued fiddling with them until his death in October 2025.
Keep scrolling for more information on Rivers’ life and death.
How Did Sam Rivers Join Limp Bizkit?
Rivers met future Limp Bizkit frontman Durst while working at Chick-fil-A they usually soon formed the short-lived band Malachi Sage. After Malachi Sage fizzled, the duo recruited drummer Otto for the primary incarnation of Limp Bizkit, with lead guitarist Borland and turntablist DJ Lethal completing the classic lineup in 1996.
The bassist was only 19 years old when Limp Bizkit’s 1997 debut album, Three Dollar Bill, Y’all, was released. He ultimately played on the entire nu-metal band’s studio albums, including taking up lead guitar for 2003’s Results May Vary when Borland briefly left.
Why Did He Leave Limp Bizkit?
Rivers announced in August 2015 that he was taking a break from Limp Bizkit to take care of private health issues. He was replaced by Samuel G Mpungu.
After meeting Rivers in 2019, Mpungu revealed that the technique of him replacing Rivers occurred inside a 24-hour period.
“Each our lives modified drastically on the 18th August 2015,” Mpungu recalled. “As a result of health issues, Sam unfortunately wasn’t capable of tour any more. The exact same day Sam had to go away, I received a phone call which modified my life. LB Management booked me a flight to Frankfurt, I went straight to soundcheck and played my first show with Limp Bizkit in front of 5000 people. (unrehearsed) The next 3 years I played all around the world with these amazing musicians.”
In 2020, Rivers revealed in writer Jon Wiederhorn‘s book Raising Hell (Backstage Tales From the Lives of Metal Legends) that the true reason for his hiatus from Limp Bizkit was because he was diagnosed with “liver disease from excessive drinking.”
Sam Rivers and Fred Durst in July 2014. Chiaki Nozu/WireImage
“I had to go away Limp Bizkit in 2015 because I felt so horrible, and a number of months after that I spotted I had to vary every thing because I had really bad liver disease,” Rivers explained. “I quit drinking and did every thing the doctors told me. I got treatment for the alcohol and got a liver transplant, which was an ideal match.”
Rivers mentioned that he first began experiencing health problems in 2011, but he “didn’t really get what was happening back then.”
“I finished drinking and battled the liver disease for a bit,” he said. “I got clean for about nine or ten months and went on tour. I used to be super clean, but my home life wasn’t that great on the time and as soon as I got off tour I began drinking, after which drinking more. I fell right back into being a horrible drunk again.”
The musician finally got sober and committed to taking his health seriously after receiving a daunting warning from a health care provider.
“It got so bad I needed to go to UCLA Hospital and the doctor said, ‘In the event you don’t stop, you’re going to die. And without delay, you’re looking like you wish a brand new liver,’” Rivers said. “I fought liver disease for a pair years and it won. I needed to get a liver transplant in 2017.”
Rivers was capable of rejoin Limp Bizkit one yr after his liver transplant.
Who Else Has He Worked With?
Rivers formed the band Sleepkillers with Burn Season vocalist Damien Starkey, Saliva drummer and vocalist Bobby Amaru and Puddle of Mudd guitarist Adam Latiff. Sleepkillers released their self-titled debut album in 2019.
During Limp Bizkit’s hiatus from 2006 to 2009, Rivers returned to the Florida music scene to provide music for Burn Season and Indorphine.
Sam Rivers in June 2025. Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
The bassist also worked with Marilyn Manson, industrial rock band Black Light Burns and Disturbed frontman David Draiman.
How Did Limp Bizkit Announce His Death?
All 4 surviving members of Limp Bizkit released a joint statement on October 18, 2025, to verify Rivers’ death.
“From the primary note we ever played together, Sam brought a light-weight and a rhythm that would never get replaced. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous,” they wrote via Instagram. “We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and each one in all them meant more because Sam was there.”
Limp Bizkit’s statement continued, “He was a once-in-a-lifetime form of human. A real legend of legends. And his spirit will live endlessly in every groove, every stage, every memory. We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, at all times. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends.”
How Did He Die?
No reason for death was laid out in Limp Bizkit’s statement. DJ Lethal asked for privacy on behalf of Rivers’ family members as they grieved.
“Please respect the family’s privacy at this moment,” DJ Lethal asked fans via Instagram on October 18, 2025. “Give Sam his flowers and play Sam rivers basslines all day ! We’re in shock. Rest in power my brother ! You’ll survive through your music and the lives you helped save along with your music , charity work and friendships. We’re heartbroken 💔 enjoy every millisecond of life. It’s not guaranteed
What’s Next for Limp Bizkit?
Limp Bizkit haven’t yet canceled their planned Gringo Papi Tour, which can also be scheduled to feature Yungblud, 311, Ecca Vandal, Riff Raff and Slay Squad. The seven-date tour is about to kick off on the Explanada del Estadio Banorte in Mexico City on November 29, 2025.