William Frederick Durst was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 20, 1970. His family moved him first to Orlando, then to Cherryville, North Carolina, soon after his birth. Fred grew up on a farm until the fifth grade. He then moved to Gastonia, North Carolina, with his family, where he finished high school. Fred Durst was reared as a Wiccan throughout his youth.
Durst had been infatuated with hip-hop culture by the age of 12. He learned breakdancing, rapping, skateboarding, beatboxing, and deejaying. He was, nonetheless, drawn to heavy metal and punk rock. Fred Durst entered the US Navy after graduating from high school but departed after just two years. Durst worked as a gardener and tattoo artist after relocating to Jacksonville with his father. During this time, he began toying with the notion of forming a band that fused hip-hop and rock into a single genre.
Limp Bizkit was formed in 1994 by Fred Durst, Sam Rivers, John Otto, and Wes Borland. They picked the moniker intentionally to deter listeners from listening to their music. Early successes like “Straight Up” exploded in the underground scene. Durst welcomed Korn to his residence after they performed in their hometown and gave them some Limp Bizkit demo recordings. As a result, Korn signed Limp Bizkit to their label.
Wes Borland quit Limp Bizkit and was replaced by DJ Lethal. They got a new record contract and released their debut album, “Three Dollar Bill, Y’all,” in 1997. Despite the album’s failure, Durst was promoted to Senior Vice President of A&R at Interscope Records. Durst subsequently began to work with other bands, including Soulfly and Korn. At this moment, he began to dabble in filmmaking, filming music videos for Limp Bizkit.
Limp Bizkit’s popularity skyrocketed with the release of “Significant Other” in 1999. The album reached number one on the charts, and critics lauded its distinct sound. They soared to notoriety, however, with the publishing of “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water” in 2000. “Chocolate Starfish” became platinum within a week of its release and went on to be certified five times platinum. It received mixed reviews from critics, but it was definitely one of the most influential albums of the late 1990s.
Limp Bizkit embarked on extensive tours in the aftermath of their popularity. During Limp Bizkit’s performances, there were prominent cases of violence and sexual assault, notably at Woodstock in 1999. One kid died of asphyxiation in a mosh pit during an Australian performance in 2001. Napster also sponsored one of the band’s tours, as Durst was a big fan of file sharing. The group later released the underground album “The Unquestionable Truth” and a best hits collection.
Durst started to focus on a movie career when Limp Bizkit went on a sabbatical. Before directing “The Education of Charlie Banks,” he acted in “Population 436.” In 2008, he released “The Longshots,” his second feature picture. Limp Bizkit was reformed in 2009 and spent the following several years performing with a variety of bands. Durst began directing “The Fanatic,” starring John Travolta, in 2018.
Family
Rachel Tergesen was Fred Durst’s first wife, with whom he had one kid in 1990. Durst has another kid from a previous relationship with Jennifer Thayer. Esther Nazarov was his second wife, although they divorced barely three months after they married in 2009. Durst married Kseniya Beryazina in 2012. In 2018, they finally filed for divorce.
Controversy
Fred Durst has been the subject of several controversies throughout the years. In 2015, he began the process of getting a Russian passport and began to use affectionate adjectives to describe Vladimir Putin. Fred Durst was denied entry into Ukraine as a result of his statements. Later, all Limp Bizkit music and paraphernalia were prohibited in Ukraine.
Durst is not hesitant to publicly criticize other musicians. He began making disparaging remarks about other musicians as early as 1999 when he referred to the Slipknot fans as “fat” and “ugly.” Frontman Corey Taylor replied by saying that Durst was probably disrespecting his own supporters because most Slipknot fans also loved Limp Bizkit. Fred also sparked a long-running dispute with the band Placebo, encouraging audience members to yell “Placebo stinks” before the band took the stage.
Durst also chastised Eminem, a former close friend of his. Durst intervened and began hitting Eminem when he began feuding with Everlast. As a reaction, Eminem recorded “Girls,” a Fred Durst diss tune, in 2001. Shaggy 2 Dope, a member of the Insane Clown Posse, attempted to dropkick Durst on stage in 2018. Shaggy subsequently claimed that he had no intention of hurting Fred and that the whole affair was a dare. Durst responded by labelling him a “clout chaser.”
Net Worth
Durst listed his Hollywood Hills home for $1.645 million on the real estate market in 2015. The property was built in the 1920s and has approximately 3,000 square feet of living space as well as a wine cellar. Durst paid $1.5 million for the property barely a year before.
Fred reported on social media in 2018 that his second house in California had “burned down” due to wildfires. He lost most of his belongings, including costly sound recording equipment. Fred spent $3 million for a property in West Hollywood, California, in July 2021.
Fred Durst is a $20 million net-worth American singer and filmmaker. Durst is best known as the vocalist of the Nu-Metal band Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit, along with Slipknot and Korn, is regarded as a forerunner of the Nu-Metal genre in the early to mid-1990s. In addition, Fred Durst has established himself as a filmmaker, having appeared in and directed many films.
