Formation of Limp Bizkit (1994–1998) In 1994, Durst, Malachi Sage bassist
Sam Rivers, and Rivers's high school friend
John Otto jammed together and wrote three songs. Guitarist
Wes Borland later joined. Durst named the band "Limp Bizkit" because he wanted a name that would repel listeners. Limp Bizkit developed a cult following in the underground music scene when its covers of
George Michael's "
Faith" and
Paula Abdul's "
Straight Up" began to attract curious concertgoers.
DJ Lethal, formerly of the hip hop group
House of Pain, joined the band as a
turntablist. During this time, Durst's disagreements with Borland led the guitarist to briefly leave the band, but Borland rejoined soon after. he was so impressed that he signed the band to Flip/Elektra, recorded a demo with the band, and co-produced its next album,
Dysfunction. Durst also made an appearance on Korn's album
Follow the Leader.
Jonathan Davis had intended to write a
battle rap with
B-Real of
Cypress Hill, but the latter's label would not let him do it, and Durst was tapped instead. Durst utilized his connections through the label and scouted numerous bands, landing record deals for
Cold,
Staind,
Puddle of Mudd, and
She Wants Revenge. Durst would also aid in attracting other bands such as
30 Seconds to Mars and
Taproot, though Durst would pass on 30 Seconds to Mars, and he later engaged in a minor feud with Taproot after it rejected his original offer to sign the group to Interscope in 1999. In the summer of 1999, Limp Bizkit played at the highly anticipated
Woodstock '99 festival in front of approximately 200,000 people. The concert was tarnished by violent behavior from the crowd, much of which occurred during and after Limp Bizkit's performance, including fans tearing plywood from the walls during the song "
Break Stuff." Several
sexual assaults were reported in the aftermath of the concert. Durst stated during the concert, "People are getting hurt. Don't let anybody get hurt. But I don't think you should mellow out. That's what
Alanis Morissette had you motherfuckers do. If someone falls, pick 'em up. We already let the negative energy out. Now we wanna let out the positive energy." In June 2000, Limp Bizkit's tour was sponsored by the controversial
file sharing service
Napster. Durst was an outspoken advocate of file sharing. In response to the negative reactions to the performance, Durst remarked, "People always just wanna talk about Britney or Christina. What's the problem? Because they make a type of music we aren't allowed to like? Or you think they are the nemesis of what our music is about? Why segregate? Why be so musically fuckin' racist? What do you mean, I can't hang out with these types of people? Clearly I didn't give a fuck, which fed a lot of it, too. I mean, someone that's not going to give in and [apologize...it's] gonna make people carry on talking." During a 2001 tour of Australia at the
Big Day Out festival in
Sydney, fans rushed the stage in the
mosh pit, and teenager
Jessica Michalik died of
asphyxiation. In
Auckland, New Zealand, on the same tour, Durst threw water over the head of a security personnel tasked with defusing a similar situation. During the Big Day Out crush, Durst has been accused of taunting security guards intervening in the situation. In court, Durst, represented by his long-time attorney, Ed McPherson, testified 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. After viewing video and hearing witness testimony, the coroner said it was evident that the density of the crowd was dangerous at the time Limp Bizkit took the stage and Durst should have acted more responsibly when the problem became apparent. Durst stated that he was "emotionally scarred" because of the teenager's death. In 2002, Durst was tapped to write songs for
Britney Spears and later said that he was in a relationship with her. Spears denied Durst's claims. In February 2005, a sex tape featuring Durst was released on the Internet. Durst filed a $70 million lawsuit against ten websites that posted the video. In May 2003, it was reported that Durst was working on a
New Wave side project alongside Limp Bizkit's
Results May Vary album. The band, named Pacifica, was reportedly in its "very early stages" and had a sound reminiscent of
Duran Duran and
Soft Cell. News about the band stopped quickly and no releases ever surfaced. In May 2005,
The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) was released.
Sammy Siegler took over drumming duties for the band for much of the album. At Durst's insistence, the album was released as an underground album, without any advertising or promotion. The album sold over 2,000,000 copies worldwide, peaking at number 24 on the
Billboard 200. Durst later announced that despite the album's title, no sequel to
The Unquestionable Truth would be produced. Later in the year, the band released a
Greatest Hitz album. Having been bullied while growing up, Durst disliked seeing people "using my music as fuel to torture other people"; feeling that his music was being misinterpreted, he would later cite this as the reason for the band taking a hiatus. Durst also said that he created a character for his music, but that he was also misunderstood by the public: "I always knew the guy in the red cap was not me. I'm Dr Frankenstein, and that's my creature. Being a breakdancer, a graffiti artist, a tattoo artist, and liking rock and hip hop was too much; it was a conscious effort to create Fred Durst, and eventually I had to bring that guy out more than I wanted to. It took on a life of its own. I had to check into that character —— the gorilla, the thing, the red-cap guy. It's a painful transformation, but I do it ['cause] that's what I was taught to do when you have people pulling at you."
Start of film career (2006–2009) While Limp Bizkit was on hiatus, Durst began working in
independent films. In 2006, Durst costarred in the film
Population 436. His directorial debut,
The Education of Charlie Banks, was released the following year. The film, which starred
Jesse Eisenberg,
Chris Marquette, and
Jason Ritter, received mixed reviews;
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 48% based on reviews from 31 critics. The website's consensus stated, "Unevenness and earnestness mire this otherwise sweet, surprising [coming-of-age] drama." A second directorial effort,
The Longshots, starring
Ice Cube and
Keke Palmer, was released in 2008. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 41% based on 71 reviews, with the site's consensus indicating that the film was "a largely formulaic affair, rarely deviating from the inspirational sports movie playbook." The same year, Durst appeared as a bartender in two episodes of the television medical drama
House, M.D. Limp Bizkit reunion (2009–present) In 2009, the original lineup of Limp Bizkit reunited and began touring. Durst announced that the band had begun to record a new album,
Gold Cobra. The album was released on June 28, 2011, receiving mixed reviews. It peaked at number 16 on the
Billboard 200. In February 2012,
Lil Wayne announced in a radio interview that Limp Bizkit had signed to his label,
Cash Money Records, which Durst confirmed on his Twitter page. A few months later, Durst was featured alongside Lil Wayne and
Birdman on the
Kevin Rudolf song "Champions," which peaked in the top 10 on
iTunes. Originally, Durst was to direct and produce the film
Pawn Shop Chronicles, starring
Paul Walker; but
Wayne Kramer was later chosen to direct the film. In 2014, Durst shot three commercials for the website
eHarmony, In February 2018, Durst began filming
The Fanatic, starring
John Travolta. == Personal life ==