It’s a scene reminiscent of Elvis Presley. Ever since Limp Biskit’s bassist Sam Rivers died suddenly, fans have wondered more about the circumstances.
His cause of death has not been released. However, TMZ is now reporting that Rivers “died in a bathroom in his Florida home … and it sounds like he fell off the toilet.” According to TMZ:
- A 911 caller told first responders that she “found him face down in the bathroom before calling 911.”
- The caller, named Keely, told dispatchers “she found Sam in a pool of blood … then she gets emotional as she performs CPR,” TMZ reported.
- He had a cut over his eye, possibly from falling off the toilet, and his face was blue.
Rivers was only 48 years old.
Sam Rivers Had Serious Health Issues Before His Death
Although his exact cause of death still hasn’t been released, Rivers had serious health issues before he died. He was open about them in a book about the rock world.
“I got liver disease from excessive drinking,” Rivers revealed in a book by Jon Wiederhorn called Raising Hell (Backstage Tales From the Lives of Metal Legends),according to Loudwire.
“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 said in the book, according to Loudwire.
(Photo by Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns via Getty Images)
“It got so bad I had to go to UCLA Hospital and the doctor said, ‘If you don’t stop, you’re going to die. And right now, you’re looking like you need a new liver,’” he said, according to Loudwire. “I fought liver disease for a couple years and it won. I had to get a liver transplant in 2017.”
According to TMZ, Keely confirmed as much to first responders, telling the 911 dispatcher that Rivers “had a liver transplant in 2018 and was taking several medications for his liver and other related issues.”
TMZ previously reported that first responders went to Rivers’ home for a “nonresponsive person in cardiac arrest.”
The Band Called Sam Rivers ‘Pure Magic’
The band confirmed that Rivers had died in an Instagram post on October 18.
“💔 In Loving Memory of Our Brother, Sam Rivers 💔,” the band’s post says. “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.”
“Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat.”
“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’s tribute continued.
“We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there,” the statement says. “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 band members concluded: “We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends.”
