Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. The current members of the band include vocalist Fred Durst, bassist Sam Rivers, drummer John Otto (Rivers’ cousin), and turntablist/sampler player 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 Black Light Burns and From First to Last. As of June 2008, the band has sold over 67 million albums wordwide. Fred Durst lived in Jacksonville, when he met Sam Rivers.

Rivers was introduced to music by his cousin, John Otto, a drummer Keystone. Durst asked Rivers if he wanted to get together for a jam session, and Rivers accepted. Rivers brought Otto along. Together they started an early version of the band. The trio soon recruited guitarist Rob Waters. In 1994 Limp Bizkit was established. Waters didn’t stay in the picture very long. The band’s first four-track demo, entitled Mental Aquaducts, 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. Otto stated Borland was an artist, but also a very good guitar player. Durst had noticed him playing at 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 met members of the band KoRn when they played a show in the Jacksonville area. Durst, a tattoo artist, gave KoRn bassist Reginald Arvizu 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. But when Wes Borland came into the picture, a second demo was recorded and this time KoRn was impressed. This three song demo included the tracks “Counterfeit”, “Stuck”, and “Pollution”, all of which would end up on Three Dollar Bill, Yall$. Reginald Arvizu passed the demo tape 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. Another major event that shaped the destiny of the band occurred before they were signed. It’s not exactly clear when it happened due to conflicting accounts. Apparently it occurred after Wes had quit the band, while the remaining members still wanted to go on without him. The band had gotten an offer from major record label Mojo Records, a subsidiary of MCA. Seeing a greater opportunity with Mojo, the band decided to choose them over the smaller label, Flip. Durst called Schur, and said, regretfully, that he had decided to choose Mojo over Flip. He also said that the band was driving a van to Los Angeles to sign the record deal and that the only way they weren’t going to sign was if the van flipped. These words proved to be an omen of sorts. While the group’s van was driving through Texas the driver fell asleep at the wheel and the van flipped. It rolled several times before landing on its roof.

While everyone managed to escape with only minor injuries, the demeanor of the band changed completely. They took it as a sign and from then on wanted nothing to do with Mojo. Everyone, including Ross Robinson, started calling Borland, trying to get him to come back to the band. Once he came back, Fred called Jordan Schur and pleaded with him, telling him how big of a mistake they had made, and about how the accident was “a sign”. It cost Flip $200,000 to buy out the Mojo contracts. When that was done, Limp Bizkit was signed to Flip. Being a small label, Flip entered into a joint venture with Interscope to distribute the band’s first album.