Shifty Shellshock, 49, found dead at home: Crazy Town’s singer’s cryptic final Instagram post
The Los Angeles-born singer/actor had a big hit in 1999 hit with ‘Butterfly’ when he fronted 90s rap-rock group, Crazy Town. He was just weeks away from turning 50.
Tributes have been pouring in for Shifty Shellshock, the frontman of American nu-metal rap rock band Crazy Town, who passed away in his Los Angeles home on Monday as confirmed by County Medical Examiner Dr. Vadims Poukens. The singer/actor/rapper, whose real name is Seth Binzer, was 49 and would have turned 50 in just a few weeks’ time.
The sad news was confirmed by Newsweek. No cause of death has been revealed and few details of his passing have emerged - nor has there been any public comment from his band Crazy Town, who were still active, having undergone several lineup changes over the years. The band’s X account re-posted news, messages, photos and videos from other sites but there has been no statement from Bret Mazur or any of the current band members.
Shifty Shellshock’s battles with addiction
Binzer struggled for many years with drugs and alcohol addiction. In March 2012, he was hospitalized and spent several days in a coma. He appeared on reality TV shows VH1′s Celebrity Rehab in 2008 and Sober House the following year, in which he detailed his struggles with cocaine and crack.
He founded Crazy Town in 1995 - a nu-metal rap rock band influenced by the west coast rap scene and artists such as N.W.A, Cypress Hill and Ice-T. The band’s biggest hit was their 1999 release ‘Butterfly’, which spent a week at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 2001.
The band released three studio albums: The Gift of the Game (1999), Darkhorse (2003) and The Brimstone Sluggers (2015) and 16 singles - the most recent being the three-track EP Flirting With Disaster, released in digital download format in February.
At the end of April, Binzer uploaded what turned out to be his final post on Instagram. With a photograph showing what looks like his feet in retro black and white plimsolls by a message scrawled on the pavement: “True love. Long Beach” which he accompanied with a text message: “I’m a lover than a fighter …but the one I need to love more Instead of fight with is myself .. mr shifty true Love # Sober alive and grateful”.
He is survived by three sons, Halo, Gage and Phoenix. Further details about his death and funeral arrangement are expected to be disclosed in the coming days.