The frontman and co-founder of the rock band Crazy Town, Shifty Shellshock, who sang the hit “Butterfly” died on Monday. The singer was 49 at the time. The cause of his death has not been disclosed yet and is “deferred” for pending additional investigation,
The news was confirmed by Shellshock’s publicist Kelly Springer, who said that her client “was a courageous fighter. So full of talent, light, compassion, love, and grace. He will be missed by so many. He was one of those souls that was magnetic. We will miss you, Seth. We are heartbroken. Thank you for your talents and contributions to our music industry. We were all blessed to have had you.”
While he paved his in the industry with his stage name, his real name was Seth Brooks Binzer. Shellshock met his Crazy Town co-founder, Bret Mazur, in the year 1992. They first began making music under the name the Brimstone Sluggers which was changed to Crazy Town in 1999 and the band had added 5 other members – Rust Epique, James Bradley Jr. (aka JBJ), Doug Miller, Adam Goldstein (aka DJ AM) and Antonio Lorenzo “Trouble” Valli.
Crazy Town sold more than six million copies of their debut album “The Gift of the Game” which was released in 1999. In October 2002, Crazy Town released the third single of this album, “Butterfly”. The track got the position of No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks and became the band’s biggest hit which helped them gain huge popularity.
After Crazy Town’s second album “Dark Horse” (2002) failed to be a hit, the band broke up. After that, Shellshock pursued a solo career, collaborating with the English recorded, Paul Oakenfold on his 2002 hit “Starry Eyed Surprise,” which reached No. 41 on the charts. In 2004, Shellshock released his first solo album, “Happy Love Sick,” which was fairly successful in Europe.
Seth has been open about his struggle with substance abuse and has appeared on the 2008 season of “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” and two seasons of “Sober House” between 2009 and 2010. In 2012, he was admitted to the hospital after falling unconscious but fell into a coma later. In recent times, he was arrested for drunk driving in 2022.
Binzer, in one of his final Instagram posts, wrote in April that he was “grateful.” “I’m a lover than a fighter,” he wrote. “but the one I need to love more instead of fight with is myself.”
Binzer said on a 2023 episode of the Punk Rock MBA Podcast that he was continuing to make music, describing it as something that has “become my therapy for myself. Even if no one gets it and it helps me, then I guess it’s good. And if people love it, that’s even better.”
A Variety post wrote that Shellshock is survived by his three children, Halo, Gage, and Phoenix.
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