Crazy Town frontman Shifty Shellshock’s cause of death revealed
Following the death of Crazy Town frontman Shifty Shellshock, a representative for the late rap-rock musician has confirmed he passed away following an accidental overdose.
The frontman who rose to prominence in the early 2000s, real name Seth Binzer, died on June 24th at his home, according to documents publicly released by the Los Angeles medical examiner. He was aged 49. Binzer had struggled with addiction problems during his adult life and openly spoke about his issues, including in his music.
In a statement, Binzer’s representative Howie Hubberman provided detail surrounding Binzer’s wellbeing before his death, heartbreakingly revealing, “Seth has been struggling with substance abuse problems for quite sometime.
Hubberman continued: “Seth was not happy with the daily struggle that’s called life. Some people cope in many different ways. It’s unfortunate we lose so many people to addiction and accessibility to harmful drugs. Shifty was a real-life tragedy. Too fast, too hard, too soon.”
Crazy Town formed in 1995, but it wasn’t until 2000 when they first made a name for themselves. Rather than a gradual growth in prominence, they raced out of the gates and burst into the mainstream with their break-out single, ‘Butterfly’.
The track, which has been streamed more than 400 million times on Spotify alone, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, as well as landing in pole position in various other territories such as Denmark, Germany, Greece and Norway.
As a result of the success of ‘Butterfly’, their debut album also charted in ninth position in the United Status, and later went Platinum, selling over a million units. However, Crazy Town were unable to capitalise upon their early mainstream hits, and their second album, 2002’s Darkhorse, was a commercial failure.
Shellshock’s career over the last 20 years was largely marred by his substance abuse problems, preventing him from fulfilling his artistic potential.
While Crazy Town disbanded before eventually reuniting almost a decade later, they never hit the same heights as ‘Butterfly’ again. Belatedly, their third and final album, The Brimstone Sluggers, arrived in 2015, with several original band members then leaving the group.
Binzer continued to tour with a new incarnation of Crazy Town, called Crazy Town X. Outside of the band, he also embarked upon a solo career, and most notably collaborated with the legendary Paul Oakenfold on ‘Starry Eyed Surprise’, which was a hit in the United Kingdom.
However, despite his musical efforts over the last two decades, it was his appearances on the reality programmes Celebrity Rehab and Sober House that Binzer was perhaps more well known for in recent history.
Significantly, last year, Crazy Town were kicked off a tour with Hed PE following an on-stage altercation with Binzer and his bandmate Bobby Reeves. At a show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Binzer only arrived at the concert towards the end and attacked Reeves. He was later arrested for DUI following the incident.
Hed PE frontman Jared Gomes said of the decision to remove Crazy Town from the tour, “Seth needs help … we can’t just sit by while he’s on the road battling demons to the death.”
Binzer is survived by his three children.
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