Shifty Shellshock, the co-founder and frontman of "Butterfly" hitmakers Crazy Town, has died.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said that Shifty, born Seth Binzer, died at a residence on Monday. He was 49. While a cause of death has not yet been determined, an investigation is now in progress. As of this writing, an official statement on Binzer’s death had not been released.
Shifty and Bret "Epic" Mazur formed Crazy Town in the late '90s, ultimately scoring a Columbia deal for the group’s 1999 debut studio album, The Gift of Game. While initial singles from the 14-track album failed to gain traction, "Butterfly," first pushed as a single in late 2000, later became an undeniably massive hit on radio.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers-sampling track spent 23 total weeks on the Hot 100, first debuting on the chart in January 2001. By March, the song had become a No. 1 hit, ultimately spending two weeks in the top spot. The Gift of Game, also featuring "Darkside" and "Revolving Door," was certified Platinum by the RIAA that February.
The album Darkhorse arrived in 2002, followed 13 years later by The Brimstone Sluggers, which now stands as the last Crazy Town full-length to be released before Shifty’s death. In 2004, Shifty rolled out a solo album through Madonna's Maverick label, Happy Love Sick, featuring his and Paul Oakenfold's high-charting U.K. hit from two years prior, "Starry Eyed Surprise."
More recently, Shifty had been performing using the name Crazy Town X, including for singles "The Life I Chose" and "Fly Away." Throughout his career, he spoke candidly about his struggles with addiction, including during stints on the reality series Celebrity Rehab and Sober House.
Last year, Shifty spoke with Finn McKenty, who runs the popular Punk Rock MBA YouTube channel, revealing that he "got to a point where I was like, 'I would like to live.'" From there, Shifty said at the time, he started to make changes in his life.
"You gotta do more than just want it," Shifty said. "Every day now is just about finding inner peace and taking care of myself and mending relationships with the people that I would hide from when I was too loaded or too into my chaos."
RIP.
