Despite their lead singer’s ubiquitous red Yankees hat, Limp Bizkit is not a band music fans typically associate with New York. And most certainly not the World Trade Center. But 25 years after the 2001 terrorist attacks toppled the twin towers, the band maintains one of the more unusual connections to 9/11.
Limp Bizkit’s World Trade Center Music Video Moment
In 2001, Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland found themselves onstage at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, where they accepted the “Best Rock Video” MTV Video Music Award for “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle).” Durst was reserved in his acceptance speech, while Borland used his time onstage to belt out an impromptu version of Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years.”
Five days later, the band would want nothing to do with the song’s music video after two commercial passenger planes struck the World Trade Center towers. “After 9/11, everyone stopped playing it,” Borland told FHM in a 2015 interview. “Nobody wanted to see it. Neither did we.”
The Surreal Timing of a Promotional Letter
The music video for “Rollin'” famously featured the band performing on top of one of the World Trade Center towers. In an interview with MTV, Durst noted that the production required the band to be on the roof for more than 20 hours. Before the end of September 2001, Durst shared a chilling story about a letter he opened on September 10, 2001—the day before the attacks—sent by representatives from the World Trade Center.
The letter, which reportedly arrived with a fruit basket, thanked the band for utilizing the structure in their music video and congratulated them on their VMA win. Less than 24 hours later, the towers were destroyed. “I found it very ironic, very bizarre that I received the letter on Monday, and Tuesday the attacks happened,” Durst reflected at the time. He emphasized that while the building was a powerful structure, his focus remained on the tragic loss of human life.
A Tribute to Heroes
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Limp Bizkit participated in the “America: A Tribute to Heroes” benefit on September 21, 2001. Joined by John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, the band performed a somber cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” As the band looked back on their brush with the site of the tragedy, Durst offered a final, haunting sentiment: “I thank God the night we were on the World Trade Center wasn’t the night they decided to do that.”
