Shifty Shellshock, Crazy Town Frontman Dead at 49

The lead singer of the rap rock band Crazy Town, Shifty Shellshock, who was responsible for the smash hit “Butterfly,” has died, he was 49 years old. Shifty Shellshock was best known for the 2001 single Butterfly, which was a US number one hit, and reached number three in the UK.

Seth Binzer aka Shifty Shellshock, better known by his stage name Crazy Town, was born in 1995. He and DJ Paul Oakenfold had a hit with the club single Starry Eyed Surprise. He struggled with addiction throughout his life, addressing his condition on reality shows such as Celebrity Rehab and its follow-up, Sober House, the BBC reports.

On Monday, June 24th, they discovered his body at his Los Angeles residence. The exact reason for the demise is still unknown.

Brett Mazur, Shellshock’s Crazy Town co-founder, was someone he first met in 1992. By 1999, the band had changed their name to Crazy Town and welcomed Rust Epique, James Bradley Jr. (as JBJ), Doug Miller, Adam Goldstein (aka DJ AM), and Antonio Lorenzo “Trouble” Valli, who had previously played in the band under the Brimstone Sluggers. Crazy Town opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on tour soon after the release of their debut album, “The Gift of Game,” in November 1999.

Crazy Town hit “Butterfly”

In October 2000, Crazy Town dropped “Butterfly”—the third track off “The Gift of Game.” As Shellshock raps, “Come my lady, come-come my lady, You’re my butterfly, sugar baby,” the song deftly combines elements of both rap and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Pretty Little Ditty” sample.

As the band’s most successful single, the song spent two weeks (not consecutively) at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, according to NBC.

The band disbanded after Crazy Town’s “Darkhorse” (2002) failed to inspire the same level of passion as their debut album. Shellshock went on to release solo material, including a collaboration with Paul Oakenfold on the No. 41 single “Starry Eyed Surprise” in 2002.

After releasing his debut solo album, “Happy Love Sick,” in 2004, Shellshock had considerable success in Europe.

Shellshock had been candid about his battles with addiction and made appearances on multiple reality shows centered around the subject, such as “Celebrity Rehab” (which aired on VH1) for two seasons and “Sober House,” the spinoff for the same network, for two seasons.

He went into a coma and lost consciousness in 2012; he eventually woke up and made a full recovery. In 2022, he was most recently taken into custody for Dui.

Phoenix, Halo, and Gage are the musician’s children.

Source: BBC, NBC