LIMP BIZKIT bassist Sam Rivers has died at the age of 48. On Saturday, October 18, the Fred Durst-fronted outfit shared a post on Instagram announcing that Rivers had passed away earlier in the day. No cause of death was revealed.
“Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” the band wrote in the caption, alongside a photo of Rivers performing onstage.
“We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends,” the post concluded, signed by Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland and turntablist DJ Lethal.
A founding member of LIMP BIZKIT, Rivers left the band in 2015 for health reasons that he later revealed were liver ailments due to alcohol abuse.
“I got liver disease from excessive drinking … I had to leave LIMP BIZKIT in 2015 because I felt so horrible, and a few months after that I realized I had to change everything because I had really bad liver disease,” Rivers said in an interview. “I quit drinking and did everything the doctors told me. I got treatment for the alcohol and got a liver transplant, which was a perfect match.”
Rivers rejoined LIMP BIZKIT in 2018 and remained in the group until his death.