New details have come to light following the shocking death of Limp Bizkit co-founder and bassist Sam Rivers over the weekend.
Rivers died in his home in Florida on Saturday, Oct. 18. He was 48.
His death was reportedly called in as a “nonresponsive person in cardiac arrest,” a spokesperson for the St. Johns County Fire Rescue told TMZ Tuesday.
Sam Rivers at the Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, on July 14, 2023. Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Limp Bizkit at the 2000 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Getty Images“Deputies responded to an attended death at that address,” the spokesperson added.
While Rivers’ cause of death remains unclear, an “attended death” is when a patient dies in a licensed hospice or at home under the care of an attending physician, per People.
The Post has reached out to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office in St. Augustine, Florida, for comment.
Rivers, Fred Durst, DJ Lethal, Wes Borland and John Otto at the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 2000. Getty Images
Rivers performing a show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on June 20, 2025. APLimp Bizkit announced Rivers’ death in an emotional Instagram post on Saturday.
“Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” the metal band began. “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,” the “Break Stuff” rockers continued. “His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous.”
Rivers performing with Limp Bizkit in 1999. Redferns
Rivers performing in Dana Point, California, on June 8, 2019. Getty Images for KROQSigned by his bandmates Fred Durst, Wes Borland, John Otto and DJ Lethal, the group went on to remember Rivers as a “once-in-a-lifetime kind of human” and a “true legend of legends.”
“His spirit will live forever in every groove, every stage, every memory,” they added. “We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always.”
“Rest easy, brother,” Durst, Borland, Otto and Lethal concluded their touching tribute. “Your music never ends.”
Rivers during one of his final concerts with Limp Bizkit. MediaPunch / BACKGRID
Durst and Rivers performing at the Estéreo Picnic festival in Bogotá, Colombia, on March 21, 2024. AFP via Getty ImagesAlthough Rivers served as the “Take a Look Around” group’s original bassist, he briefly departed the band in 2015 for health reasons.
Five years later, he revealed that he left Limp Bizkit because of liver disease caused by 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 told author Jon Wiederhorn for the 2020 book “Raising Hell,” according to Variety.
Rivers, Durst and Borland performing on June 8, 2019. Getty Images for KROQ“I quit drinking and did everything the doctors told me,” he added. “I got treatment for the alcohol and got a liver transplant, which was a perfect match.”
The “Truth” bassist later rejoined the Grammy-nominated band in 2018 and remained a key member of the iconic nu metal group until his death.
Rivers, who founded the group with Durst in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1994, performed his last concert with Limp Bizkit at the Leeds Festival in the UK in August.
