Is the Lead Singer of Limp Bizkit Related to the Subject of 'The Jinx'?
Not all Dursts are real estate heirs, convicted murderers, and the subjects of HBO documentary series.
Updated April 22 2024, 3:43 p.m. ET
Some people may think the lead singer of Limp Bizkit is related to the real estate heir/murderer/subject of The Jinx. Though they share a somewhat uncommon last name, is Fred Durst related to Robert Durst?
Thanks to season two of The Jinx, people are yet again wondering if they guy that claimed he’d like to shave your a— raw with a chainsaw is blood relatives with a guy that was actually convicted of first degree murder.
Fred Durst and Robert Durst are not related, and they were born worlds apart.
No, Fred and Robert Durst are not related.
Fred Durst was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He also lived in Orlando before settling in Cherryville, North Carolina, all before he was the age of 1. Fred does not come from a place of privilege.
Robert Durst was born in New York City, the heir to New York City real estate magnates. A product of high society, Robert had a privileged upbringing, not one that saw him move three times in the first twelve months of life.
Fred Durst wasn’t actually born Fred Durst.
The most damning evidence to Fred Durst not being related to Robert Durst is Fred Durst was born Frederick Allen Mayne III. The Durst in his name comes from Bill Durst, a police officer that his mom married when Fred was a small child. Is it irony that the Durst in Fred’s name comes from law enforcement?
Fred has dispelled the Robert relation in 2015.
When The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst first premiered in HBO it was a hit. A disturbing hit. A hit that caused the Limp Bizkit singer to remind people the two are not related.
In March of 2015 Fred shared a photo of himself on Instagram in some custom Limp Bizkit merch, a sweatshirt with “NOT ROBERT” across the chest with the caption “I am NOT ROBERT.” The post is now deleted, not because the two are related but because Fred occasionally wipes his grid clean.
It didn’t help Fred that the AP (thanks to Slate for archiving this error) accidentally credited Robert as the lead singer of Limp Bizkit. The news wire had to run the following correction: “In the second item of the California 10th NewsMinute sent March 16 to users of the state broadcast wire, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Robert Durst is a member of a band. He is a real estate heir; Fred Durst is the former frontman of Limp Bizkit.”
The AP did not issue a correction about Fred being the current frontman of Limp Bizkit. The band has only ever been on hiatus from 2006 to 2009 and there have been no other lead singers. Fred is owed another correction.
If and when Robert Durst is ever in the news again this rumor is likely to re-emerge. It did in January 2022 when Robert died at the age of 78. For a few days some people thought Fred Durst's grandpa or dad died. Some thought Fred passed. He did not. Fred and Limp Bizkit are doing just fine. The group will be touring across America (with Corey Feldman and Riff Raff!) in ampitheatres and stadiums in July and August 2024.