Limp Bizkit Bassist Sam Rivers Dead at 48

Sam Rivers — the bassist for the rock-rap group Limp Bizkit — has died … according to an official statement posted to the band’s Instagram.

The group announced the news Saturday evening … revealing Sam passed away earlier in the day and calling him their “heartbeat.”

Sam wasn’t just a bass player, the group say — he “was pure magic. The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound.”

Outside of the music, the band writes that Sam was a once-in-a-lifetime person and a legend among legends.

The message ends, “Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends.” They did not reveal a cause of death.

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.

Rivers, Otto and Durst made up the original iteration of Limp Bizkit … then, they added guitarist Wes Borland and DJ Lethal to complete their group in 1996.

Over the next three decades, Limp Bizkit rocked stages all over the world … dropping six studio albums — including the critically-acclaimed “Significant Other” and “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water” in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

Among their best known songs … “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle),” “Take A Look Around,” “My Way,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” “Nookie,” “Hot Dog” and “Break Stuff” — the last of which has been streamed almost 1 billion times on Spotify.

Rivers temporarily left the group in 2015 … later revealing it was because he developed a liver disease due to excessive drinking. He received a liver transplant and rejoined the group in 2018.

Rivers was 48.

RIP