25 June 2024 , 10:51
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Crazy Town's Shifty Shellshock has died aged 49 after previously discussing his heartbreaking battle with himself.
The Butterfly hitmaker - whose birth name was Seth Binzer – is recorded to have passed away on June 24, according to the Los Angeles medical examiner.
No cause of death is known currently. Back in 2012, Binzer - who battled with substance abuse over the years - was admitted to hospital after losing consciousness and had been in a coma before being released.
The musician recently opened about getting sober and his battle with himself. He wrote on Instagram eight weeks ago: "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 (sic)"
Binzer struggled with drug addiction for many years and appeared on the reality television series Celebrity Rehab 1 and 2 and Sober House 1 and 2. He met co-frontman Bret Mazur, in 1992, and they first went by the name Brimstone Sluggers.
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In 1999, they formed Crazy Town, and a year later they were due to tour as part of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's Ozzfest, but Binzer was arrested after he threw a chair out a window while intoxicated.
Released in 2000, noughties classic Butterfly' topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and was number one in several other countries including Austria, Denmark, and Norway.
No cause of death is known currently (Getty Images)
Binzer struggled with drug addiction for many years (WireImage)It samples Pretty Little Ditty from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1989 album Mother's Milk, so the group are credited as songwriters. Their debut album, The Gift of Game, sold more than 1.5 million copies.
However, after their 2002 follow-up Darkhorse was a flop, they parted ways. They reformed in 2007 and were back on stage in 2009. Their third album, The Brimstone Sluggers, followed in 2015.
In January 2017, Mazur – who was nicknamed Epic – announced his departure from the band, with Rick Dixon, Nick Diiorio and Kevin Kapler also quitting that April. Binzer then added an "X" next to the band's name, as it’s “used by gangs to symbolise a territory that has just been won".
In November 2019, Crazy Town's tour van crashed into a moose in Ontario, Canada, with members, including Binzer, treated for bruises and cuts at the hospital.
Crazy Town – Binzer, DJ Rick One and Mark White – last toured in 2023 with Hed PEm, the shows went ahead despite a bloody fight between Binzer and the group’s vocalist Bobby Reeves outside a venue in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Binzer also had a solo career and joined forces with British producer and musician Paul Oakenfold to supply the vocals for his 2002 hit Starry Eyed Surprise.
His debut solo album, Happy Love Sick, was released in 2004. He also formed Shifty and The Big Shots in 2010. Binzer was often in trouble with the law, with crimes including attempted burglary and selling and using recreational drugs.
He has two children, a son named Halo, from his marriage to Melissa Clark. And a son with a woman named Tracy called Gage.
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Binzer was in a relationship with Jasmine Lennard in 2010, but police were called to a domestic disturbance between the pair the following year.
In 2022, he started romancing his childhood friend, Punky Brewster actress Soleil Moon Frye, 47, when he was arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles.