Shifty Shellshock, Crazy Town frontman and ‘Butterfly’ singer, dead at 49
Shifty Shellshock, the frontman of the rap rock band Crazy Town, has died. He was 49.
Per the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s website, Shellshock — whose real name was Seth Binzer — died on Monday.
The singer, who battled addiction for years, passed away at his residence in Los Angeles.
A cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
Fans reacted to Shellshock’s death in the comments section on his pinned Instagram post from April 28.
“I am absolutely devastated,” one person wrote.
“Seth, man. RIP my brother,” another comment read.
“Rest in power, Shifty. Addiction is f – – ked up. I was really hoping sobriety was going to turn things around for you,” a different person said.
A fourth comment read, “RIP. I hope you have finally found some peace.”
Crazy Town was formed in 1995 by Shellshock and fellow rapper Bret “Epic” Mazur. Other members included DJ Rick One, Mark White, Adam Bravin, Charles Lopez, and more.
The group blew up with their 2000 single “Butterfly.” The song peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two nonconsecutive weeks.
After their second album flopped, Crazy Town broke up in 2003. But they got back together four years later and released their third album, “The Brimstone Sluggers,” in 2015.
The band was renamed Crazy Town X by Shellshock in 2017.
Shellshock was open about his struggles with addiction throughout his life. He was on “Celebrity Rehab” twice and went on to also appear on its follow-up show, “Sober House,” two times.
In 2012, he was reportedly arrested for battery and cocaine possession. Per Variety, that same year he was admitted to the hospital after losing consciousness and fell into a coma before recovering.
The rapper was arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles in 2022. He was charged with another DUI in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in April 2023, according to TMZ.
The outlet reported during the latter incident, Shellshock drove drunk after he got into a fistfight with a bandmate. When he was pulled over, Shellshock was reportedly lethargic, slurred his words and bombed a field sobriety test.
Shellshock talked about his addiction and how it affected his career on “The Punk Rock MBA” podcast in March 2023.
“I think I was too wild to stick around for a long time,” he said. “I managed to live through a lot of crazy shit, and got to the point where I was like, ‘I’d like to live.’
“That’s a whole new way of live that you have to slowly teach yourself,” Shellshock added. “To do it correctly, you’ve got to do more than just want it. Everyday now is just about finding inner peace and taking care of yourself.”
Shellshock is survived by his three children, Halo, Gage and Phoenix.
