Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed in 1994. As of 2012, the band consists of Fred Durst (vocals), Wes Borland (guitar), Sam Rivers (bass), and John Otto (drums). Formed in 1994, Limp Bizkit started playing in the Jacksonville, Florida underground music scene in the late 1990s, signing with Flip Records and releasing their début album Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ in 1997. The band achieved mainstream success and notoriety with their second and third studio albums, Significant Other (1999) and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000). To date, the group has sold over 33 million records worldwide.
Borland left the group in 2001, and Durst, Rivers, Otto and Lethal continued to record and tour with guitarist Mike Smith. Following the release of their album Results May Vary (2003), Borland rejoined the band and recorded The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) (2005) with Durst, Rivers, Lethal and drummer Sammy Siegler before going on hiatus. In 2009, the band's original lineup reunited and began touring, culminating with the recording of the album Gold Cobra (2011), after which they left Interscope and later signed with Cash Money Records.
Fred Durst grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina, where he took an interest in breakdancing, hip hop, punk rock and heavy metal. He began to rap, skate, beatbox and deejay. While mowing lawns and working as a tattoo artist, he developed an idea for a band that combined elements of rock and hip hop. Durst played with three other bands, Split 26, Malachi Sage, which were unsuccessful, and 10 Foot Shindig, which Durst left to form a new band. Durst told Sam Rivers, the bassist for Malachi Sage, "You need to quit this band and start a band with me that's like this: rappin' and rockin'." Rivers suggested that his cousin, John Otto, who was studying jazz drumming at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and playing in local avant garde bands, become their drummer. Durst, Rivers and Otto jammed and wrote three songs together, and Wes Borland later joined as a guitarist.