Fred Durst has honoured late Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers with an emotional video tribute, recalling how they met and his sheer talent.
Fred Durst has shared an emotional video tribute to Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers, following news of his death at age 48 yesterday (October 19).
In an eight-minute Instagram video, the Limp Bizkit frontman remembered Rivers as a “gifted, unbelievably sweet and wonderful person,” recounting the story of how the two first met in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
“I’d gone into this little tiny bar/pub where this band was playing at Jax Beach called Pier 7,” Durst recalled. “And there Sam [Rivers] was on the stage with his band, killing it on the bass. And I went, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s amazing.’ In my mind…you had to start with the rhythm section: the bass and the drums. And I didn’t know who I was gonna meet first to put this idea together – I didn’t know if it’d be the drummer or the bass player – but it was the bass player.”
Durst said Rivers’ playing immediately stood out. “He was playing a five-string bass, too. I’d never really seen someone using a five-string bass. And he was so smooth and good, and he stood out, and I could hear nothing else but Sam. Everything disappeared besides his gift.”
After the show, Durst approached Sam Rivers about starting a band. “I said, ‘Hey, man, you’re unbelievable. I got this idea for this band I wanna do,’” Durst said. “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 uh, you know, that’s kind of how things started to come together. I had a bass player.”
Fred Durst said he introduced him to drummer (and Rivers’ cousin) John Otto, and the trio began jamming in Sam’s garage – with Durst on guitar at the time “one-finger noodlin’ it.” He said with the two other musicians, it “felt like a magical thing” as the beginnings of Limp Bizkit were formed. “This is it. This is what I’ve been looking for,” Durst said he felt in the moment.
Durst went on to describe Sam Rivers’ love of grunge artists (something they shared together) like Mother Love Bone, Alice In Chains, and Stone Temple Pilots and the Seattle grunge movement as a whole. It was these inspirations that deeply shaped Limp Bizkit’s early sound.
“He had this kind of ability to pull this beautiful sadness out of the bass that I’d never heard,” Durst said. “I mean, he would play chords. He was just so talented. I can’t explain it.”
Sam Rivers death was announced by Limp Bizkit on social media yesterday, and already there’s been an outpouring of tributes and support from the music community and fans. At this stage, no cause of death has been confirmed.
“It’s so tragic that he’s not here right now. And I’ve gone through gallons and gallons of tears since yesterday,” he added. “With Limp Bizkit, we’ve been on such a journey, it’s been a massive rollercoaster. [We are] just having this incredible moment man, it’s going so beautifully smooth, and Sam was just really really happy about it.”
Durst ended the video with a heartfelt reflection. “What [Sam Rivers] left us behind is priceless,” he said. “When I think back to how I met him and how all this kind of came together, Sam was the first guy, the first guy that really came in and helped make this dream [of Limp Bizkit] come true. He didn’t think twice about it.”
“I’m super, super grateful, and I miss him terribly already. And 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.”
You can watch Fred Durst’s full video here.
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