More details into Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers’ shocking death are coming into focus thanks to the 911 call made after he was discovered.
According to the call, Rivers was found in a bathroom at his home in Florida.
In the audio, obtained by TMZ, a caller named Keely said she found him lying facedown in the bathroom just before calling, suggesting that he may have fallen off the toilet.
Rivers’ death was announced by his band Limp Bizkit on its social media accounts on October 18. He was 48.
The latest update follows reports that Rivers was apparently in cardiac arrest when first responders arrived at his home.
In the 911 call, the frantic caller says she just arrived at the house and found Rivers ‘face first in a pile of blood.’
A 911 call obtained by TMZ features a caller named Keely frantically telling responders that she found Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers ‘face first in a pile of blood’ in the bathroom of his Florida home. He was pronounced dead that day, October 18, at age 48; seen with Limp Bizkitin August 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida
The caller started to sob as the dispatcher informed her that emergency responders would walk her through performing CPR on Rivers, but she interjected that she already knew how to do it.
As a fire rescue employee came on to the line to inquire if Rivers was breathing, the caller could be heard in the background growing increasingly frantic.
‘He’s dying! He’s dying! Please, I need to flip him over!’ she said, though it’s unclear if she was speaking to someone else at the scene.
She told the responder she would need to get off the phone in order to take care of Rivers, but he calmly reminded her that she could put the call on the speaker to stay on the line.
As she started performing CPR, the responder asked her to shout out ‘Now’ every time she made a chest compression, and her tempo indicated that she was performing the rescue measure at the proper rate.
The call came to an abrupt conclusion when the woman said that a deputy had arrived at the house.
According to the incident report, a responding deputy said that the caller also informed them that she had found Rivers lying face down in the bathroom.
CPR reportedly continued until the St. Johns County Fire Rescue team made it to the scene, at which point Rivers was pronounced dead.
The caller said she just arrived home and found Rivers’ unresponsive on his face, suggesting he may have fallen off a toilet. She could be heard screaming ‘He’s dying! He’s dying!’; seen with Fred Durst in 2011 in the UK
A responding deputy said Rivers was blue from the neck up but flushed on his lower body, suggesting he may have suffered a pulmonary embolism. However, a cause of death has not been officially released; pictured in 1999 with Limp Bizkit in Mountain View, Calif.
So far, it’s unclear how much time lapsed between Rivers’ medical emergency and his discovery.
According to the report, Rivers may have had a small cut above one of his eyes, a possible result of his bathroom fall.
The deputy also speculated about Rivers’ potential cause of death, noting that he may have suffered a pulmonary embolism.
They allegedly noticed that he was dark blue from the neck up, but his lower body was flushed, which may be indications of the potentially deadly condition, in which a blood clot from elsewhere in the body travels until it blocks an artery in the lungs.
Blood clots associated with pulmonary embolisms often originate in the legs, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
The deputy also noted that a small pool of blood that had already coagulated was seen in the bathroom.
Rivers had previously revealed that his departure from Limp Bizkit in 2015 was the result of liver disease brought on by years of heavy drinking, for which he later received a liver transplant before returning to the band full time from 2018 until his death.
The caller who discovered him informed deputies of the transplant, and she said he had been taking multiple medications, both for his liver and other conditions that were reportedly related.
The caller informed the deputy that Rivers had had a liver transplant in 2018 and took multiple medications for his liver and other related conditions. She said he smoked weed and occasionally drank alcohol (seen in 2023)
She also said he regularly smoked marijuana and would occasionally drink alcohol.
Although some people who receive liver transplants for reasons unrelated to alcohol abuse may be able to drink in moderation, patients who have received a new liver as the result of damage from alcoholism are usually instructed to never drink alcohol again.
A spokesman for the St. Johns County Fire Rescue previously told TMZ that it responded to a call for a ‘nonresponsive person in cardiac arrest’ on October 18.
Additionally, a representative for the St Johns County Sheriff told the publication that ‘deputies responded to an attended death at that address.’
An attended death is ‘in which the decedent has been a patient under medical care for a serious or life-threatening illness that will likely lead to death in a relatively short period of time (days or months, but not years),’ according to the American Institute of Crime Scene Integrity.
While what caused his passing remains unknown, the musician had grappled with his health. He was been candid about how his ‘excessive drinking’ led to a liver disease diagnosis, and in 2017 he underwent a liver transplant.
Rivers had been one of the original founding members of Limp Bizkit – which was formed back in 1994.
In an emotional statement announcing Rivers’s death, his bandmates Fred Durst, John Otto, Wes Borland and DJ Lethal wrote: ‘In Loving Memory of Our Brother, Sam Rivers. Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat.
The metal group announced on October 18 that the bassist has passed away earlier in the day, with an emotional tribute. A cause of death is yet to be revealed (L-R Wes Borland, DJ Lethal (born Leor Dimant), Fred Durst, John Otto, and Sam in 1997)
‘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. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous.’
The group continued: ‘We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there.’
They called Rivers ‘a once-in-a-lifetime kind of human’ as well as ‘a true legend of legends.’
They concluded their statement: ‘And his spirit will live forever in every groove, every stage, every memory.
‘We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends. — Fred, Wes, John & DJ Lethal.’
Rivers first met the lead vocalist of the band Durst in the 1990s while working at Chick-fil-A, going on to form Limp Bizkit in 1994 alongside drummer Otto.
Two years later, guitarist Borland and turntablist DJ Lethal also joined the group and their debut album – Three Dollar Bill, Y’all – was released in 1997 and included singles such as Counterfeit.
Rivers first met the lead vocalist of the band Durst in the 90s while working at Chick-fil-A, going on to form Limp Bizkit in 1994 alongside drummer Otto, with guitarist Borland and turntablist DJ Lethal also joining two years later (seen in 2000)
The band found further success and recognition with second album Significant Other (1999) followed by Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000).
Some of the biggest tracks that the group released over the years include Break Stuff, My Way and Behind Blue Eyes.
The band went on hiatus in 2006, but reunited just three years later in 2009.
Limp Bizkit has received three Grammy nominations such as Best Rock Album in 2000 for Significant Other and won a series of other awards, including a Billboard Music Award for Top Modern Rock Artist.
Rivers departed from the band in 2015, before rejoining in 2018, which he later revealed was due to his battle with liver disease.
The late musician made the revelation in a book from rock writer Jon Wiederhorn titled Raising Hell (Backstage Tales From The Lives Of Metal Legends) in 2020, per Loudwire.
He shared: ‘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 also stated that he continued to focus on his health and eventually underwent a liver transplant.
Rivers departed from the band in 2015, before rejoining in 2018, which he later revealed was due to his battle with liver disease (seen in 2009)
‘I quit drinking and did everything the doctors told me. I got treatment for the alcohol and got a liver transplant, which was a perfect match.’
He said he received the diagnosis back in 2011 and ‘got clean for about nine or ten months and went on tour.’
However due to a home life that was far from ‘great,’ he fell back into drinking again and would later get a warning from medical professionals.
‘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.”‘
Rivers added: ‘I fought liver disease for a couple years and it won. I had to get a liver transplant in 2017.’
