Shifty Shellshock Dies at 49: Crazy Town Singer is No More

Crazy Town frontman Shifty Shellshock passed away at the age of 49. The musician, actual name Seth Binzer, passed away on Monday, June 24, at his Los Angeles residence, according to information posted on the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s website. The vocalist of “Butterfly” has not yet had a cause of death declared by the medical examiner.

Shifty Shellshock Cause of Death:

Shifty Shellshock, whose real name was Seth Binzer and the main vocalist for the famous song “Butterfly” by Crazy Town, a late 1990s rap-rock band, passed away on Monday at home in Los Angeles. 49 was his age.

His death was officially certified by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. However, the cause of death was still under investigation.

Following the publication of their debut album, “The Gift of Game,” in 1999, Crazy Town became well-known. Because of “Butterfly’s” popularity, the record peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard album list in 2001, ranking the most popular album. The song received much praise and topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for two weeks. Rolling Stone magazine called it “a sweetly floating ballad that’s atypical for these hard-rocking B-boys.”

Mr. Binzer was candid about his battles with drug misuse. During 2008 and 2010, he featured in two seasons of the VH1 series “Popular Rehab with Dr. Drew” and the 2009–2010 spinoff series “Sober House.”

Seth Binzer: Who was He?

On August 23, 1974, in Los Angeles, Rollin Binzer, a rock band director and album art designer, and Leslie Brooks, a model and script checker, welcomed Seth into the world. He spent some of his early years in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and was reared in Southern California.

His sister Aubrey Binzer and his mother claimed that although he was a talented youngster, he also had a wild side that led him into trouble. He used to break dance for tourists on the Marblehead pier when he was around ten years old, according to Ms. Brooks.

According to his sister, he made many friends right away once his family moved back to Los Angeles when he was twelve. He would invite them to the house, and many became well-known figures in the music business, such as Scott Caan and Alan Maman of The Whooliganz, a hip-hop group.

Even during school hours, Mr. Binzer was frequently seen skating with pals on Venice Beach as a teenager. Ultimately, he left high school to focus on his musical career. He disclosed that he became engaged in drug selling and gangs after dropping out of a podcast in 2020 with Brittany Furlan.

The band was formerly known as the Brimstone Sluggers before he and Bret Mazur, also known as Epic, founded Crazy Town in 1995. According to the band’s Spotify profile, the two started sending letters to one other from rehabilitation facilities, which gave rise to the idea of establishing what would become known as Crazy Town.

Doug Miller, better known as Faydoedeelay, Charles Lopez, better known as Rust Epique, Anthony Valli, better known as Trouble Valli, Adam Goldstein, better known as DJ AM, and James Bradley Jr., better known as JBJ, were joined to the band in 1999. The band disbanded in 2003.

In recent years, “Butterfly” has evolved into various forms, appearing in movies like the 2016 animated picture “Sing.” Gayle, a singer, also rewrote and sang it for Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film “Barbie.”

Mr. Binzer wed Melissa Clark in 2002, and the two welcomed a son named Halo. Afterward, they got divorced. There were two further sons of Mr. Binzer: Gage and Phoenix. His sister Mieke Dumont survives him, in addition to his parents, siblings, and sister Aubrey.

In 2020, Mr. Binzer talked candidly about his experiences with recovery in many podcasts, one of which was hosted by Ms. Furlan. He then stated that he hoped to go on another tour after two years of sobriety. Mr. Binzer shared updates about his sobriety on Instagram around the end of April. He wrote, “I need to love myself more, rather than fight with others.”