Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band. The band consists of lead singer Fred Durst, bassist Sam Rivers, drummer John Otto, and DJ Lethal -- former guitarist Wes Borland, who was with them for their first three albums, and did the cover art for the last two, left in 2001. Replacing Wes Borland is Mike Smith (formerly of the band Snot) The band is signed to Interscope Records.
Limp Bizkit was formed in 1994 by Fred Durst and Sam Rivers. They toured in and around their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. They made friends with the rap group House of Pain around this time. Soon after House of pain broke up DJ Lethal of the aforementioned group joined the band. Limp Bizkit garnered fans with their rap-rock hybrid and heavy guitar riffs. In 1996 they released a five song-EP featuring songs such as "Pollution" and "Sour". In 1997 they released their first full-length album Three Dollar Bill Ya'll. The album had a slow start. It wasn't until Limp Bizkit made an association with the band Korn that they made any progress. Due largely to Korn they were able to promote with appearances on MTV and "The Famliy Values Tour" as well as Ozzfest (and Wes Borland's outlandish stage clothes didn't hurt either). Their break-out hit was "Faith", a cover of the George Michael hit.
In 1999, Limp Bizkit released their follow-up Significant Other, whose first single "Nookie" was a runaway hit. The success of this single however would spawn the first of many scandals they would face. It was rumored radio stations were being paid to play "Nookie" multiple times. "Nookie" was so popular it was played three times in a row on certian days. Some radio DJ's claim Universal (the parent company of Interscope) was paying fifty dollars to programming directors everytime "Nookie" was played. This they claimed cause intense pressure to play the song. Limp Bizkit and Interscope have repeatedly denied this story however and there is no written evidence to suggest any of it occurred.
More scandal would follow in the same year however. In the summer of 1999 Limp Bizkit played Woodstock 99. During their set fans begin to tear plywood from the walls of the stage and the "tower" used by media outlets to cover the concert. There were also reports of sexual assaults suring the set. Tensions ran high and violence continued to occur culminating in blazes and looting by the end of the show. Some concert goers claim singer Fred Durst had incited the violence. Fred Durst has stated that none of the comments he made that day were intended to cause violence. The issues was later addressed in the video for the single "Rearranged", which featuring the band being judged and "executed" for the Woodstock debacle.
Controversy soon started to overshadow their music. In that same year Fred Durst would become involved in feuds with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and the band Slipknot. Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor mocked Fred Durst in the music clip "starsuckers" (also mocked in the video were Billy Corgan and Manson himself. The brunt of the mockery was Courtney Love though). Trent Reznor later proclaimed "Limp Bizkit sucks and everyone knows it". Fred Durst said Reznor should be careful as he was very influential at Interscope records (Reznor is also attached to Interscope records), this comment caused an uproar. People claimed Durst practiced "mafia" style tactics. These accusations became more frequent after an associate of the band Taproot released a threatening message Durst had left on his answering machine. Durst claimed he was simply misunderstood and was not violent or negative. However he later had a very bitter and almost violent feud with Creed's lead singer Scott Stapp.
The band became mired in controversy in 2000 during a tour of Australia with the Big Day Out rock festival. At the Sydney concert, a teenage girl was crushed to death by fans rushing the stage. It was claimed that Durst was urging the crowd on, or at least failed to attempt to calm the crowd.
2000 saw the release of Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. Hot Dog earned a world records for most used of the word "Fuck" in a song. It's first two singles "My Generation" and "Rollin'" were released at the same time. Durst claimed this tactic would generate buzz for the album and so it did. Both songs were hits (a remix of "Rollin'" featured Method Man, Redman and DMX was a minor club hit) on rock radio and the album sold well. The band headlined the Family Values tour with Staind and Filter on the bill.
In 2001 Limp Bizkit seemed to be cracking at the seams. Wes Borland was playing with his side project Big Dumb Face and during interviews expressed dissatisfaction with Limp Bizkit. He was tired of the constant feuding and did not like to be on the wrong side of his idol (Trent Reznor). By the summer of 2001 he left Limp Bizkit. He told MTV news in an interview that Limp Bizkit was a "sell out band" and Fred Durst had become a bit of an egomaniac. After Borlands departure Limp Bizkit held auditions for a new guitarist. This led to nothing however. Since 2002 Limp Bizkit have been working on a new album rumored to be produced by Rick Ruben (this is doubtful now), The album has been scrapped several times due to sacking of guitarists. Mike Smith, formerly of the band Snot is the latest guitarist for Limp Bizkit.
Limp Bizkit's new album is due out in October of 2003. They are currently touring with Metallica, the Deftones and Linkin Park. There is wide speculation the upcoming album may not do very well. According to some insiders Fred Durst does not work well without Wes Borland. They claim Durst can write lyrics but without Borland he has lost any sense of musical direction. Durst did make an effort in 2002, shortly after the failed guitar player auditions to apologize to Borland in an attempt to woo him back to Limp Bizkit. Borland has made it very clear though he will not return. Durst also raised the ire of Britney Spears when he alleged on the Howard Stern show that he slept with her. Spears denies this (it should be noted however she was photographed entering her L.A. home with him, he did not come out until the following morning). Durst claims his feuding days are behind him and he says he seeks peace with his fellow rock musicians.
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