Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. The band achieved success with over 30 million albums sold worldwide.

The current members of the band include vocalist Fred Durst, guitarist Wes Borland, bassist Sam Rivers, drummer John Otto (Rivers' cousin) and turntablist/sampler/keyboardist DJ Lethal. The band's guitarist Wes Borland departed in 2001 following the release of their first three albums to be replaced by Mike Smith for the band's fourth release Results May Vary. Borland rejoined for The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) only to quit once again in 2006 to work with other projects. February 2009 saw the confirmation of all five members reuniting for a world tour set to launch in the Spring of that year.

Early years
Limp Bizkit was formed in 1994 in Jacksonville, after Fred Durst met Sam Rivers. Rivers introduced Durst to his cousin, John Otto, a drummer in Keystone. The three got together for a jam session, and soon after started an early version of the band. The trio soon recruited guitarist Rob Waters and Limp Bizkit was established. The band's first four-track demo, entitled Mental Aquaducts, (which were remakes of previously written songs from Fred's previous bands Split 26 and 10Ft Shindig) was recorded with him but soon after he left the band. Otto suggested the group to consider Wes Borland, whom he had gone to school with, for the now vacant position. Durst noticed him playing in clubs and wanted to recruit him. Durst went to Philadelphia, and he instructed the other members to talk to Wes and see if he'd join the band. Wes accepted, and the very night Fred came back to Jacksonville, a show was scheduled. Fred and Wes met for the first time, practiced for a half hour, and then went and played the show.

The band continued to play various shows, their most popular venue being at the Milkbar in Jacksonville. In 1995, Fred Durst was scared to talk to and meet members of the band KoRn when they played a show in the Jacksonville area. Durst, a tattoo artist, gave Korn lead guitarist Brian "Head" Welch several tattoos and the two became friends. Durst also gave Korn the band's first demo tape with Rob Waters, and they shrugged it off as nothing special. Later, with Borland, a second demo was recorded and this time Korn were impressed. The demo included the tracks "Counterfeit", "Stuck", "Stalemate", and "Pollution", all of which would end up on the band's debut album Three Dollar Bill, Yall$. The demo tape was passed onto Ross Robinson, who produced for Korn, and was also very impressed. Ross contacted Limp Bizkit, and stated his intent to produce for the band. Also, at a Garbage concert, Durst had met Jordan Schur and played his demo tape for him in Schur's car. He was impressed, and wanted to sign Limp Bizkit to his label, Flip Records. Around this time, the band was booked to tour with the bands Deftones and House of Pain, whose member DJ Lethal later joined Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit later signed with Mojo Records, but was later bought out by Schur and subsequently signed with Flip Records.

Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$ (1997-1998)
The band's first full length recording, Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, was released in 1997 on Interscope. The album fared poorly on the Billboard 200 at the time of its release, although it did sell steadily over time due to a huge amount of obsessive touring. It wasn't until the Family Values Tour, the Trail of Tears, and Ozzfest, which helped the album to peak at number 22 on the chart. At Ozzfest in particular, the band made a memorable impression on viewers due to the original set they played on, which consisted of a giant toilet. The band climbed out from the toilet at the beginning of the show, with Fred saying lines during the show such as "We're coming straight to you from the sewer" and "I am a piece of shit, and my band is a piece of shit". Wes Borland's outlandish makeup also started making impressions on fans as well. Although their first released single was "Counterfeit", they rose to fame through a cover of George Michael's "Faith". The song appeared on the soundtrack of Peter Berg's 1998 movie "Very Bad Things"starring Cameron Diaz, Christian Slater and Jeremy Piven. Later that year, Fred lent his vocals to Korn's third album on the song All in the Family, a rap-battle of sorts. The album also featured a second disc, with four remixes of the demo for the song and multimedia featuring interviews between Durst, Borland and the rest of KoRn.

Another unique idea the band came up with was the Ladies Night in Cambodia tour. Fred had noticed that mostly young males went to their concerts, and wanted more women to come. So, they came up with the idea to let women get in for free at this tour. The tour was a huge success, and many more women would appear at their later concerts (even though this practice lasted only for the "Cambodia" tour). The set was also fairly original, as it made the stage appear to be a jungle (hence the 'Cambodia').

Shortly here after Limp Bizkit was sued by Rob Waters for using songs he helped co-write. Waters won and was rewarded with a high six figure sum. Terry Balsamo (Cold, Evanescence) decided not to pursue in the lawsuit even though he helped write material as well.

Significant Other (1999-2000)
In 1999, Limp Bizkit found major worldwide success with their second album Significant Other, which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and received somewhat positive reviews. The album sold 834,000 copies in its first week and has sold over 16 million copies worldwide. The first single "Nookie", was an enormous hit on rock radio, reaching the top 10 in both rock and rap charts. The band followed-up the single with three simultaneously released singles - "Break Stuff", "Re-Arranged" and "N 2 Gether Now" (featuring hip-hop artist Method Man). "N 2 Gether Now" has been cited as an example of Fred Durst's attempt to work for unity rather than rivalry between rock and hip-hop, blurring the distinction between the two genres of music. The album also features the songs "Nobody Like You" with vocals by Jonathan Davis of KoRn and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and "No Sex" with vocals by Aaron Lewis of Staind.

Controversies

In the summer of 1999, Limp Bizkit played at the highly anticipated Woodstock '99 show in front of approximately 200,000 people. Then violent action sprang up during and after their performance, including fans tearing plywood from the walls during a rendition of the band's single "Break Stuff". Several rapes and sexual assaults were reported in the aftermath of the concert, some examples of the latter being caught on tape, resulting in deliberately lit fires and looting when the Red Hot Chili Peppers played the next day. Some have blamed the band for this outbreak, although Fred Durst claimed that none of the instigations he had made at the concert were intended to cause damage.

Along with this episode, controversies involving the band's members began to arise. Durst particularly became involved in feuds with the metal band Slipknot, Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist Zakk Wylde and engaged in physical violence with Creed frontman Scott Stapp. The band also began feuds with rapper Eminem. In addition, the band Taproot released on their website an answering machine message that Durst had left on the lead singer's phone as "revenge" for ending their record company contract with his record label.

Chocolate Starfish (2000-2001)
 

Fifteen months later, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water was released on October 17, 2000. In an interview with Guitar World, guitarist Wes Borland explained the meaning of the album's strange title. He said that Fred was frequently referred to as an asshole, or a "chocolate starfish," and the hot dog flavored water came from an inside joke about a gas station the band visited while on the road that had every flavor of water imaginable (except hot dog flavored). The album set a record for highest week-one sales of a rock album with just over one million copies sold in the U.S. in its first week of release . "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" was certified Gold, Platinum and six times Multi-Platinum.. The first two singles "My Generation" and "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)" were released at the same time in promotion of the album. "Take a Look Around" was later added to the list as the theme song to the movie Mission: Impossible 2. A remix, "Rollin' (Urban Assault Vehicle)" featuring Method Man, Redman and DMX was also a minor club hit and was also featured in the movie The Fast and the Furious. The fourth single "My Way" was commissioned as the opening theme for the World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania X-Seven. Despite its commercial success, the album received mediocre reviews from many critics.

Controversies

In late 2000, the band also stirred up some discontent by allowing the controversial peer-to-peer file-sharing network Napster to sponsor their "Back to Basics tour", advertised as a chance for fans to get closer to the band.

Controversy continued with a death during a 2001 tour of Australia at the Big Day Out festival in Sydney. Teenager Jessica Michalik suffered a heart attack when fans rushed the stage in the mosh pit. It was claimed by security and witnesses that Fred Durst was urging the crowd on in a possibly violent manner, and that he failed to attempt to calm the crowd after the accident. Michalik was later rushed to Sydney's Concord Hospital where she died five days later.

Durst provided the courts with testimony. During the hearing he claimed, via a video connection from the U.S., that he had warned the concert's organizers Aaron Jackson, Will Pearce and Amar Tailor and promoter Vivian Lees of the potential dangers of such minimal security, even going so far as to say Limp Bizkit would ?pull out? if the issue wasn't properly addressed. Big Day Out attorneys attempted to pin the blame on Limp Bizkit because the band did not stop playing when they received news of the incident. Although the guitars, drums and bass ceased, DJ Lethal played a quiet computer-generated loop. While admitting that Lethal took it upon himself to play the interlude, Durst claimed that the quiet melody did have a soothing effect on the crowd.

The Coroner's Court decided the band 'could've been more helpful in efforts to aid the girl'. The security practices employed by festival organizers Creative Entertainment Australia bore the brunt of the blame. After viewing videotapes and hearing witness testimony, however, Milledge, the coroner, said it was evident that the density of the crowd was dangerous at the time Limp Bizkit took the stage- therefore they had to erect a cage around the band.

Borland's first departure
 

In the fall of 2001, Wes Borland left Limp Bizkit for the first time. Strained relations between him and Durst contributed to his decision. His departure was interpreted as a major blow by fans and critics to the band. He was often cited as a vital creative force in the group, due in part to his eccentricity. The last known song the band was working on with Wes was "Relax", a semi-cover take on Frankie Goes to Hollywood's song, due to be on the Zoolander soundtrack.

Results May Vary (2002-2004)
With Borland's absence, Limp Bizkit began a nation-wide audition for their new guitarist called Put Your Guitar Where Your Mouth Is in 2002. Durst announced at the outset that he was interested in recruiting a female or more than one new member into the band. Thousands of hopefuls were said entered. Some controversy occurred when rumors surfaced that all contestants were required to sign a document giving Limp Bizkit the full ownership of any riffs they played. Each auditioner was allowed only sixty seconds in the first round. The final contestants were Monte Pittman, Anoush Saboktakin and Jonas Anderson of Fresno, California.

On March 30, 2003, Limp Bizkit performed live for the first time in two years, at World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania XIX. They played "Crack Addict" and "Rollin'" (The Undertaker's theme song) at the show. They also signed up for several live tours, despite their lack of a guitarist. It was revealed that the guitarists for the WrestleMania tour were Head from Korn and Mike Smith from Snot.

During this time, Durst spoke of many collaborations with guitarists, with a few rap guests sprinkled in on songs for the album. Among them were Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Page Hamilton of Helmet, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, and Head of Korn as well as Jay-Z, Bubba Sparxxx, and Snoop Dogg. None of the songs with those guitarists would make it onto the album, except "Build a Bridge", which was written with Welch, and "Red Light - Green Light", which featured Snoop Dogg.

For whatever reason, the finalists from the "Put Your Guitar Where Your Mouth Is" contest were rejected in favor of former Snot guitarist Mike Smith. The band also changed its logo to limpbizkit to promote their change of style.

The band had already recorded an album's worth of material for an upcoming release. But with Mike Smith now in the band, it was decided that they would go back in the studio and record another album's worth of songs. The best of these tracks would make it onto the final release. Fred refers to the tracks recorded during this period that didn't make it to the album as the 'Off the Record' tracks, as if it were an album in itself.

On September 23, 2003, Results May Vary, their fourth album, debuted at #3, breaking the group's #1 spree on the Billboard 200. It received platinum certification (1 million copies sold) in the United States in 2008, almost 5 years after its release. In comparison, their previous work Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water sold one million albums in its first week.

The album received almost uniformly poor reviews by critics. Although Rolling Stone's review gave 3 out of 5 stars, Playlouder called it 'fucking crap', and Yahoo! Launch labeled it 'a frightening insight into the vacuous state of 21st century culture'. Nevertheless, an acoustic cover of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" was a moderate hit on mainstream radio, and its video featured actress Halle Berry. "Eat You Alive" was released as the first single off the album, cracking the top 20 of both American rock charts with an accompanying video that features actress Thora Birch being berated and actor Bill Paxton as her father who is looking for her. The album's ballad "Build a Bridge" was the official theme song of WWE's Survivor Series pay-per-view event in November 2003, although it was never released as an official single due to Mike Smith's departure. Another song from the album, "Almost Over", cracked the Rock Top 40. However it was never released as a single or video.

In 2003, Limp Bizkit toured on the Summer Sanitarium Tour with headliners Metallica, along with Linkin Park, Deftones and Mudvayne to promote Metallica's 2003 release, St. Anger. At the tour's stop in Chicago, IL, attendees of the concert threw items at and heckled Durst from the moment he walked on stage. With the crowd chanting "Fuck Fred Durst" and continuing their assault on him, Durst threw the mic down after six songs and walked off stage, but not before heckling the crowd back.

The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1), Greatest Hitz, Borland's second departure, and hiatus (2004-2008)
Throughout July 2004, various rumors began circulating claiming that Wes Borland had been playing with the band again. By July 8, a fan site released an official report that Borland was recording with the band in London. Photos appeared on the band's official website of him playing with the band, and a live video of them playing a new song "The Truth" in studio was also posted on the website.

Durst said of Borland's re-entry, "We are very content with Mike being gone. We are the type of people that stay true to our family and our instincts and at any moment will act on intuition as a whole. Mike wasn't the guy. We had fun playing with him, but always knew, in the back of our minds, that he wasn't where we needed him to be mentally." At this stage, they reverted back to the use of their original logo.

The band returned to the studio with producer Ross Robinson, who had worked with them on Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, to create a seven track EP titled The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1). Drummer John Otto was only able to contribute to one track on the album due to personal matters, with Sammy Siegler providing percussion on the remaining tracks. Durst promised fans before its release that it would be a return to the 'rawer, more abrasive style' of their first album.

The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) was released as a 7-track EP internationally on May 3, 2005 with little fanfare or advertising, debuting at number 24 on the Billboard 200 and selling only 37,000 copies in its first week. It has sold just slightly over 100,000 in the US. It also received mediocre reviews, with some critics thinking that Durst was trying too hard to imitate Rage Against the Machine's lead singer Zack de la Rocha.

Limp Bizkit's first greatest hits compilation, titled Greatest Hitz, was released on November 8, 2005. It contained material from the band's first four albums (the track "The Truth" was released in some countries). An additional DVD, which was released in conjunction with the CD. The album and DVD were barely promoted by the band's label, even to the point where Durst claimed he was being forced to do interviews about a compilation he wasn't very excited about. The promotion did not pay off, with the album debuting at number 47. Wes Borland stated that the CD was "a piece of shit and a waste of money."

After the release of Greatest Hitz and the depature of Wes Borland the band unofficially went into a hiatus. Durst began directing and acting in movies (Population 436, The Longshots), Otto went into rehab and collaborated with other bands and artists, as did the rest of the band (Rivers, Lethal).

Rock im Park 2001 was released on on March 31, 2008. The live album and DVD, documented their 2001 performance at Rock im Park in 2001. It documents the band at the height of their popularity.

Reunion, new album and recent events (2008-present)
In late 2008, bassist Sam Rivers hinted that the group was in the early stages of writing new material for the fifth full-length album, the bands first full-length album in 6 years. He described the band's intentions in a post on a fan site.

In mid-2008 rumors began to indicate that Limp Bizkit were planning a comeback tour, these rumors were later confirmed. Interviews with various members of the band had hinted that Terry Balsamo was to replace Wes Borland, but Balsamo was demanding a written contract, which the band was either unable or unwilling to sign. Despite no official confirmation from the band, members of Limp Bizkit signed up on Twitter including Wes, with DJ Lethal confirming the accounts to be real, making Borland's rejoining seem less like a rumor.

On February 11, 2009, Durst posted on his Twitter account the message "1am pacific time- limpbizkit.com tonight". The site was up and running for the first time in years and confirmed the return of Wes. Through a blog post on the homepage, Fred Durst and Wes Borland issued a joint statement:

We decided we were more disgusted and bored with the state of heavy popular music than we were with each other. Regardless of where our separate paths have taken us, we recognize there is a powerful and unique energy with this particular group of people we have not found anywhere else. This is why Limp Bizkit is back.

The band also added that a worldwide tour would follow, and initially stated that a new album would follow. After the announcement, the band released two rehearsal videos of "Boiler" and "Break Stuff" on their website, while they also updated one picture on their official website limpbizkit.com and Myspace page page.

On May 20, 2009 the original lineup of Limp Bizkit (Durst, Borland, Rivers, Otto and DJ Lethal) performed together for the first time in eight years, at their first show ever in Latvia. Limp Bizkit went to play at the UK Download Festival on June 12, as well as the simultaneous German festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park. Shortly after, the band also confirmed the rest of their European tour, which was later confirmed to be called the Unicorns N' Rainbows Tour. This included a performance at the Szczecin Rock Festival in Poland, on 24th of June, their first show in this country.

The band played a one-off, sold out UK gig in the London HMV Forum on August 1 as part of Kerrang's Week of Rock. In August 2009, they were inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame at the Kerrang! Awards. The band played at the inaugural Sonisphere festival on August 2, playing in between Nine Inch Nails and Lamb of God, and playing alongside Nine Inch Nails and Keane in ETPFest, Korea, on August 15.

August 24th 2009 marked the official first day of recording for the new album, with all original members attending. Less than one month later, Fred's twitter update informed readers that the recording of instrumentals has been completed, along with the first of two layers of vocals.

Cash Money signing, Stampede of the Disco Elephants and DJ Lethal's departure

(2012–present)

In February 2012, the band returned to Australia for the first time in 11 years, to perform at the Soundwave festival. Durst dedicated the shows to Jessica Michalik, who died during the Limp Bizkit performance at Big Day Out 2001. On February 24, Limp Bizkit signed with Cash Money Records, and revealed plans to release a new single, "Ready to Go", a full-length album, Stampede of the Disco Elephants, and an EP, The Unquestionable Truth (Part 2). Due to mounting tensions and following a dispute between Durst and bandmates Lethal and Otto about the latter two's alleged chronic drug and alcohol use, DJ Lethal resigned from the band with strong animosity.

Fred Durst was featured in the song "Champions" by Kevin Rudolf, used as theme for WWE's Night of Champions PPV. The song debuted on WWE Raw televised event on 3 September 2012. This is the first time Limp Bizkit has worked with WWE since 2003. On October 11, 2012, DJ Lethal posted an apology to the band on twitter, and despite being accepted back into the band, he was fired shortly after.

"He's been in and out and in and out. I know what he wants to do but don't know what he would do if he came back into the band. He's kind of all over the place, and I don't know if he wants to be in the band. When we had him back, nothing materialized as far as material coming out of him to add to the record. We're talking to him. We've opened up dialogue back with him recently, and we'll see what happens." - Wes Borland on the band's relationship with DJ Lethal

It was announced on October 26, 2012 on Fred Durst's official Twitter account that a video for the first Cash Money single with Lil Wayne, "Ready to Go" was currently being filmed. Limp Bizkit also "leaked" a new song on the web called "Lightz (City of Angels)" via YouTube. The band is currently recording their seventh studio album, Stampede of the Disco Elephants with producer Ross Robinson, who also produced the band's debut album, Three Dollar Bill, Yall, and their 2005 album The Unquestionable Truth Part 1. The album is scheduled for a January 2014 release.

On March 24, 2013, the first single from the album, "Ready to Go" (Featuring Lil Wayne) was released on limpbizkit.com and the accompanying music video was released on 22 July.

In April 2013, the band announced 34 tour dates, 25 being in the U.S. Their touring schedule included Welcome to Rockville, the Carolina Rebellion, Rock Am Ring in Germany, and Rome.

On November 1, 2013, a new track from the album, a cover of the Ministry song "Thieves" was released by the band via their official Facebook and Twitter accounts. Then on the 11th of December the band released a new single, along with an accompanied music video, titled "Lightz".