Sam Rivers Was the First Person Fred Durst Recruited to Form Limp Bizkit

Rivers was playing in another band in the Jacksonville area when Durst saw him play live

On October 18, Limp Bizkit revealed that bassist Sam Rivers had passed away. The founding member of the Jacksonville five-piece had been going through some health struggles over the last few years, and received a liver transplant back in 2017. He was just 48-years old. Since then, tributes have been pouring in for Rivers from fans and fellow musicians.

Limp Bizkit paid a touching tribute to Rivers on their official social media channels.

“In loving memory of our brother, Sam Rivers,” the band said in a statement. “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.”

Limp Bizkit just released a brand new single called “Making Love to Morgan Wallen” on September 12. It became the band’s first No. 1 hit since the release of their 1999 staple “Re-Arranged,” which coincidently is Sam Rivers’ finest performance with the group. The all-new “Making Love to Morgan Wallen” topped Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, as well as Alternative Digital Song Sales, and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales. It is the first time Limp Bizkit have topped any of these charts specifically.

To date, “Making Love to Morgan Wallen” has been streamed nearly 3 million times in the United States alone, and garnered nearly 700,000 radio impressions. The single sold 2,000 digital downloads for the week ending on September 18, the official audio has amassed over 2.5 million views on YouTube. It is their first new piece of material since their 2021 comeback album Still Sucks, and it is reportedly the lead single from the band’s forthcoming seventh album.

In a new video posted to his official Instagram account, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst shared a more in-depth tribute of his own to Rivers, praising his talents and contributions to the group. Additionally, Durst went back to the beginning to share how it all started with Sam.

Durst began by heaping praise upon Rivers.

“Sam Rivers, the legend. Truly such a gifted, unbelievably sweet and wonderful person. And, you know how I met Sam is I put a couple iterations [together] of an idea of a band. I was, you know, trying to make [it] happen in Jacksonville, Florida, had this idea and vision for this particular type of, you know, style and sound, and I just couldn’t get it together, right?”

Then, Fred went on to reveal that Sam was actually the first person he approached when creating what would become Limp Bizkit.

“And so, I decided, ‘I’m gonna go out and find the right players to do this and bring this thing together.’ And I’d gone into this little tiny bar/pub where this band was playing in Jax [Jacksonville] Beach [at a place] called Pier 7 [Lounge], and there Sam was on the stage with his band killing it on the bass. And I went, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s amazing.’

And in my mind, it was, you had to start with the, the rhythm section, the bass and the drums, and [I] didn’t know who I was gonna meet first. To put this idea together. Didn’t know if it’d be the drummer or the bass player, but it was the bass player. I saw Sam play and I was blown away. He’s playing a five string bass too. I’d never really seen someone using a five string bass and just, he was so smooth and good and he stood out, and I could hear nothing else but Sam, you know? Everything disappeared besides his gift.

I went up to Sam after the show and. And I said, ‘Hey man, you’re unbelievable. You know, I got this idea for this band I want to do,’ and I kind of threw it out there and told him what I wanted it to be. And he looked at me and he says, ‘Killer, I’m in. Let’s do it.’

I was like, ‘Oh my God, well let’s do it.’ And, you know, that’s kind of how things started to come together. I had a bass player and after me and Sam had been jamming around and messing around for a bit, you know, I started looking around for other players and things and Sam said, ‘Well, you know, my cousin, John’s a killer drummer. He’s a jazz drummer and he should jam with us.’

And I said, ‘Well, jazz would be great because it’ll give us that kind of beat.’ We wanted, you know, that kind of, you know, that, that swag, and so I met John through Sam and saw that John had the thing, he had it, you know, so me, John, and Sam are jamming in Sam’s garage. I’m playing the guitar at the time and kinda rapping. And singing and, you know, I can’t really play guitar well, so it’s tuned to drop D and I’m one finger noodling it, and Sam’s filling it in and holding it up ’cause you know, clearly I couldn’t.”

Of his new rhythm section, Durst gushed, “John and Sam – it was a magical thing, the two of them.

Fred continued, “I felt like, ‘This is it. This is, this is it, this is what I’ve been looking for. And uh, and Sam had this sing about ’em where. Anything I could spit outta my mouth, try this, try this, do this or this, Sam could do it and do it a thousand times better than I can hear it in my head. And, also, Sam and I shared an affinity, a love for, you know, grunge music. That’s something that we were both really, uh, on the same page about. Sam really loved Mother Love Bone and Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots and the whole Seattle grunge movement. And, he had this kind of ability to pull this beautiful sadness out of the base that I’d never heard. I mean, he would play chords and the way he..just so talented, I can’t explain, I know I’m all over the place here. I just, you know..thinking about him and I..[it’s] so tragic that he’s not here right now and, and I’ve gone through gallons and gallons of tears since yesterday. And, I’m thinking, ‘My god, Sam’s a legend.’ You know – he did it, he lived it, you know, with Limp Bizkit, we’ve just been on such a journey. It’s been a massive roller coaster and here we are just having this incredible moment, man, and it’s going so, so beautifully smooth and Sam was just really, really happy about it.

Rocking stadiums together, been around the world together, shared so many moments together. And I know that wherever Sam is right now, he’s smiling and feeling like, ‘Man, I did it. I did it.’

And man, did he do it. You know what he’s left us behind is priceless. He’s such a special person, and Sam’s a very private person, too. So, the few people that were able to be close with him and around him, know what I’m saying to be true – he’s a very, very special, genuine person. And when he got on that stage, it’s that Sam – that Sam Rivers came out and just..he’s a beast.

Just amazing, amazing person. And when I think back to how I met him and how all this kind of came together, Sam was the first guy, uh, the first guy that really, you know, came in and helped make this dream come true. And, um. He didn’t think twice about it. He was just like, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Sounds great to me. Let’s do it.’ And, you know, I was 25-years old and he was 18-years old and, you know, young and just had all that fire in him and all that talent and I just knew that I was very, very, very fortunate. I’m very fortunate to have him in my life, and, and I’m so grateful, so incredibly grateful to have shared part of this journey with Sam Rivers. A huge part of this journey, a huge part of my journey. I’m super, super grateful and I miss him terribly already. All the support and love out there I’ve seen online, it’s overwhelming. He really did have an impact on the world, and his music and his gift is the one that’s gonna keep on giving. And I just love him so much.”