"Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player – he was pure magic…" Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers has died, aged 48

Sam Rivers, bass player for Limp Bizkit, has died, aged 48. The band confirmed the bass player's death in a statement on social media.

"Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat," they said. "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. 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 cause of death has not been revealed.

Sam Rivers was a founding member of Limp Bizkit. He was born in September 1977, in Jacksonville, Florida, where he later formed the nu metal trailblazers with frontman Fred Durst.

He played on all of the band's studio albums – playing both guitar and bass on their 2003 album, Results May Vary – although he did have time out from the band between 2015-2018, as he battled liver disease, a result of chronic alcohol abuse.

In 2020, he revealed that his drinking had almost killed him: "The doctor said, 'If you don't stop, you're going to die,'" he told author Jon Wiederhorn for his book, Raising Hell. "I had really bad liver disease. I quit drinking and did everything the doctors told me.

"I fought liver disease for a couple years and it won. I had to get a liver transplant in 2017."

Rivers rejoined Limp Bizkit in 2018, and won Best Bassist at the Gibson Awards in 2000. In October that year, he was the cover star of Bass Player magazine.