"Limp Bizkit": history of creation, participants, soloist, albums and concerts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Among all American rock bands, Limp Bizkit is one of the most popular. Three Grammy nominations have contributed to her worldwide success. Aggressive lyrics and their presentation, experiments with sound, bright live shows - all these are just some of the reasons that contribute to the constant increase in the army of the band's fans.

What is the band famous for?

During its more than twenty years of existence, Limp Bizkit has repeatedly won prizes in various musical categories. According to music critics, its uniqueness lies in the skillful combination of rock music, rap and nu-metal elements, which appeared as a result of many years of experimentation with sound and the use of a wide variety of instruments.

It is worth noting the bright concert programs, during which the band members are completely devoted to the process: they actively work with the audience, perform their compositions as close as possible to the original and make each of their shows not likeprevious. The band plays more than 50 concerts every year around the world, and it is sometimes simply impossible to get tickets for them.

How did the band form?

The idea of creating the group "Limp Bizkit" belongs to its soloist - Fred Durst, who always dreamed of working in a team whose work would combine rock and hip-hop. At the beginning of 1993, he was in three little-known projects at once, each of which did not bring him any creative satisfaction. That is why he left them one by one, deciding to create something completely different.

In December of the same year, Fred contacted bassist Sam Rivers, with whom he worked on one of his former projects, and offered him a collaboration. Sam was seriously interested in the idea of creating a new group and immediately called his cousin John Otto, who knew how to play drums well. The most difficult thing was with the guitarists, they changed quite often until the appearance of Wes Borland, who became one of the band's calling cards.

Group members

The line-up of Limp Bizkit has remained virtually unchanged throughout the entire existence of the band. The main members are: Fred Durst (vocals), Sam Rivers (bass, keys, backing), John Otto (drums), Wes Borland (guitar, backing) and DJ Lethal (keys, sampling), the last two left the group in 2001 and 2012, respectively, but after a break of several years, they nevertheless returned, to the delight of their fans.

Musicians have been thinking about the name of the band for a very long time, there were many ideas, but all of them were rejected by Fred. Sam could not stand this brainstorming and declared thathis brain is like a soft cookie (limp biscuit), after some adjustments the name “Limp Bizkit” appeared, its translation remained the same. At one time, the members of the group were Mike Smith, Terry Balsamo and Rob Waters, all of whom also became famous figures in show business.

Band frontman

Limp Bizkit lead singer Fred Durst was born into a poor family, his biological father left when the musician was only a few weeks old. For a couple of years, Anita, Fred's mother, tried to earn money and solve a huge number of problems, they had to live in the attic of the church, where ministers sheltered her and her child. Soon the woman married Bill, a police officer who raised Durst as his own son. As a teenager, Fred listened to heavy music and tried to write rap, it helped him get rid of negative emotions.

After leaving school, he decides to go to Gaston to support himself, he has to work in fast food, parks, clubs, but he does not stay anywhere for long. In 1988, he decides to go to serve in the Navy, after which he marries. The marriage turns out to be fleeting, Fred's only positive memory of him is Adrian's daughter. Later, cohabiting with Jennifer Revero, Durst becomes a father for the second time - the girl gave birth to his son Dallas. Later, the musician returned to Gastonia, where he formed a new band, stylized as Vanilla Ice, but without success.

Durst's real fortune began after returning to Jacksonville where he met his future Limp bandmatesBizkit. Now the musician is married to a Russian woman, Ksenia Beryazeva, a native of the Kemerovo region. In his latest interviews, Durst noted that he would like to officially become a citizen of Russia, but so far this has only remained in the plans.

LB: 1994-2005

The entire history of the existence of the group “Limp Bizkit” can be divided into two stages. The first of them began in 1994 and lasted until 2005. Initially, the band gained popularity as an underground band, but after several concerts it became clear that without their own "chips" it would not be possible to break into the big stage. By 1996, the team already had its own style, and a year later acquired a producer and its own team on the label.

A huge number of tours, concerts and filming seriously affected all members of the group - they became more serious, which was reflected in the quality of lyrics and music. The team has been repeatedly criticized for its outrageous behavior, as well as for intemperance towards colleagues in the shop. However, Durst and his team ignored the caustic remarks and continued to do their job to the delight of the fans.

The period from 2001 to 2004 was quite controversial for Limp Bizkit, the absence of Wes Borland also affected here, the album Results May Vary, released in his absence, was smashed to smithereens by critics. The musicians were consoled by the fact that the record was successful from a commercial point of view. In the group, disputes begin on the topic of the need to continue working together, as a result of which the team members acceptdecision to take a break.

LB: 2009 to present

The pause benefited the team: the music of Limp Bizkit during this time not only has not lost its relevance, but has also become a kind of guide for young people. In 2009, the band visited Russia and many other countries as part of their tour, after which they sat down in the studio to record a new album. The work took about two years, a significant increase in the number of keyboards helped the musicians finally win the favor of the critics.

Despite the departure of DJ Lethal in 2012, the musicians continued their successful touring activities, alternating it with filming clips and recording new material. As of 2018, the band is busy recording their seventh album, in March this year the DJ who left it 6 years ago returned to the band, which should also have a significant impact on the record.

Video support

Another key feature of the group "Limp Bizkit" - clips, at first viewing of which it seems that they have absolutely no meaning. This is the impression one gets from the video created for the band's very first song - Counterfeit, directed by Fred Durst. The band's frontman directed almost all the clips, thanks to this, it was possible to achieve maximum integrity of the picture and sound.

Russian fans learned about Limp Bizkit by watching the video for the song Faith, created from video archives accumulated during the tour. Also, friends of the group, Korn, appeared in the video, and images were also used here for the first time.the alter egos of the band's leaders are Fred Durst and Wes Borland. Some of the team's creations were banned in a number of states due to the ambiguous texts of the compositions, accompanied by a kind of video sequence.

The song Rollin` became a turning point in the career of Limp Bizkit, the clips that appeared earlier did not have any semantic load. This video is best remembered for being filmed in New York's infamous towers, and it's considered one of the highest-grossing albums in rock music history. In the future, the band spoiled fans with videos not so often, and most often they were just cuts from tours.

Musical style

Founder Fred Durst initially assumed that the group would combine a huge number of different musical styles. Leading at the moment are alternative metal, nu metal, rap, funk, rock, in parallel with this, the musicians constantly include elements of post-grunge, hard rock, heavy, progressive, and alternative rock in their compositions. All compositions are processed using a variety of techniques, resulting in an unusual sound that has no analogues.

Most of the texts of the compositions were written by Durst, they often contain abusive vocabulary, are imbued with aggression and are associated with the peculiarities of society. Some songs ridicule society and parody media personalities, in recent years there has been a tendency when the lyrics reflect the personal experiences of the vocalist of the group and his position regarding certain politicalevents.

Should I go to the show?

Perhaps Limp Bizkit's songs would not have been as popular if it weren't for the elaborate concerts the band is known for. All show programs consist of stage productions combined with visual effects. One of the highlights is the 1999 Family Values Tour, when the band members used a mock-up of an alien ship to perform.

The "calling card" at concerts is Wes Borland's costumes, frightening and mesmerizing fans. Wes invents them himself and pays special attention to body painting, painting his body in a wide variety of colors. In an interview, the musician has repeatedly said that for some performances he uses only shoes and underwear, and the rest of his body is completely covered with paint.

Scandal image

The image of hooligans and brawlers has stuck with the band since its first performance. After the release of the video for the song Rolling (“Rowling”), the press began to write about Limp Bizkit as musicians who do not hesitate to express their opinion on any issue. The members of the group did not shy away from quarreling with their colleagues. In particular, we are talking about Eminem, with whom the musicians were friends at first, but later the relationship deteriorated when the band refused to support the rapper in a conflict with Everlast.

Perhaps the most famous is the Slipknot scandal, when Fred, in one of his interviews, did not speak too correctly about her fans. The drummer of the project threatened Durst with physical harm in caserepetition of such statements. The latter responded on the band's official website that he is happy that Slipknot hates Limp Bizkit as it only makes their music better.

Hits of the team

Despite the fact that the band became popular thanks to their own songs, some listeners remembered only one composition of Limp Bizkit - "Behind blue eyes" (Behind blue eyes). A cover of The Who's song with a rebuilt melody and added electronic sounds for several months held the first position in the world's leading music charts. Some fans of the band were surprised to learn that this composition was created by other musicians, and not "Limp Bizkit", "Blue Eyes" - that's what they originally called the song.

The list of the group's most recognizable songs also includes tracks: Nookie, Break Stuff, Combat Jazz, Shotgun and a number of others. Not so long ago, the band released a new single called Ready to Go, which should be included in the band's new studio album. Fans love rhythmic songs that you can dance to at concerts, the band tries to take into account their opinion and release as many of these creations as possible.

Discography

It's hard enough to find a band that could come close in its sound to Limp Bizkit, the musicians have already released six albums, and are now recording the seventh. The first of them - Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$ - was released in 1997, while preparing it, the team was guided by the principle by which names were used thatwould repel listeners and evoke negative emotions. Original effects and a well-built rhythm section helped Limp Bizkit release an album that, although it was criticized by various music reviewers, still sold well.

The albums Significant Other, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water and Results May Vary, released in 1999, 2000 and 2003 respectively, only strengthened the band's position in the music market. Limp Bizkit's last album was released in 2011, fans have been waiting for a new disc for seven years, about which nothing is known except the name - Stampede of the Disco Elephants.

Group achievements

Limp Bizkit has been in existence for more than 20 years, except for a four-year break in work, during which time the band has been nominated three times for the most prestigious music award on the planet - the Grammy, and also received a huge number of prizes. The band won their first Billboard Music Awards in 1999 for the video Nookie, which was also nominated for a number of other awards.

More often than others, the group was singled out by the MTV channel, focused on a young audience that respects rock and alternative music. In 2009, the team was inducted into the Kerrang! Hall of Fame! for his achievements and the formation of a progressive audience that loves rock music.