How Sam Rivers Met Fred Durst at Chick-fil-A & Started Limp Bizkit

Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst joined an emotional tribute from the band after Sam Rivers died at the age of 48.

Durst and Rivers, the band's bassist, shared a special band because it's their friendship that is at the heart of the band's origin story.

• Durst and Rivers first met while working together at Chick-fil-A.
• Soon, they became part of the Jacksonville, FL, music scene. "Formed in 1994, Limp Bizkit became popular playing in the Jacksonville underground music scene in the late 1990s, and signed with Flip Records," according to Last FM.
• It's not clear how Rivers died. However, he previously opened up to an author about having a liver transplant.

Sam Rivers & Fred Durst Bonded Over Skateboarding as Well as Music, According to a Journal Article

The first members of the band were Rivers, John Otto, and Durst, according to TMZ.

"Rivers grew up playing with Limp Bizkit drummer John Otto ... and, he met Fred Durst while working at Chick-fil-A in the early 1990s," TMZ wrote. Wes Borland and DJ Lethal were added to the group a couple years later.

According to a journal article in Rock Music Studies, Limp Bizkit "was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1994. Frontman Fred Durst, an enthusiastic amateur rapper, and bassist Sam Rivers met whilst working at Chick-fil-A in the early 1990s and bonded over their mutual interests in skateboarding and music."

Both Durst and Rivers "were focused on forming a group that combined elements of rap and rock, eventually recruiting Rivers’s cousin John Otto on drums," that article notes.

"Limp Bizkit’s early incarnations developed an underground following, largely in Jacksonville’s punk scenes," the journal article adds.

"Otto’s high-school friend Wes Borland, a devoted death-metal and grindcore fan, joined the band as the sole guitarist in 1995."

The band brought on DJ Lethal to add more "hip-hop elements" to its sound, and he joined Limp Bizkit in 1996, it says.

According to Last FM, Rivers was already the bassist for another band called Malachi Sage.

Durst told Rivers, "You need to quit this band and start a band with me that's like this: rappin' and rockin'," according to Last FM.

Fred Durst Joined a Tribute to Sam Rivers

Durst's Instagram page contains the band's tribute to Rivers.

"In Loving Memory of Our Brother, Sam Rivers ????," it said on October 18. "Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat."

"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," the post continued.

"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," it adds. "We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there."

"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 post says. "We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends."

The post was signed, "Fred, Wes, John & DJ Lethal ❤️"