Sam Rivers, the bass player for the metal band Limp Bizkit, has died, the band said on social media. He was 48.
The band said Rivers died on Saturday but did not disclose where he died or the circumstances. They described him as “pure magic” and “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,” the band wrote in an Instagram post announcing his death. “We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there.”
The band added: 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.”
Fred Durst, the band’s frontman and lead vocalist, posted a video Sunday morning that recounted how they met at a club in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and went on to musical stardom and performances around the globe. Durst said he has shed “gallons and gallons of tears since yesterday.”
“He really did have an impact on the world and his music and his gift is the one that’s going to keep on giving,” Durst said. “I just love him so much.”
Rivers had spoken of heavy drinking that had caused liver disease. He left the band in 2015 and received a liver transplant before reuniting with Limp Bizkit three years later.
Limp Bizkit has scheduled a tour of Central and South America to begin in Mexico City in late November.
Durst said he and Rivers shared a love of grunge music, naming the bands Mother Love Bone, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots.
“He had this kind of ability to pull this beautiful sadness out of the bass that I’d never heard,” Durst said, calling Rivers “so talented I can’t explain.”
Limp Bizkit, with roots in Jacksonville, Florida, emerged in the late 1990s with a sound that melds alternative rock, heavy metal and rap.
Their off-the-wall sense of humor is reflected in the titles of their mega-selling 2000 album, “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water,” and a single released last month, “Making Love to Morgan Wallen.”
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