Crazy Town singer Seth Binzer dies at the age of 49

Crazy Town lead singer Seth Binzer, who rose to fame with the song Butterfly, has died at the age of 49, the LA Medical Examiner announced.

According to the Examiner website, he died on Monday and the cause of death has not yet been disclosed.

Binzer, who performed under his stage name Shifty Shellshock, founded the band with Brett Mazur in LA in 1995.

The group is best known for their third single, “Butterfly,” which reached number one on the US singles chart and number three on the UK singles chart and became an anthem of the early 00s.

The band’s debut album, The Gift of the Game, was released in 1999 and reached number 15 in the UK album charts.

Crazy Town released two more albums, Darkhorse and Brimstone Slugger, which enjoyed limited success before Mazur left the band in 2017.

Binzer continued with the group under the name Crazy Town X and last toured in 2023.

The singer suffered from drug addiction throughout his life and appeared on television shows such as “Celebrity Rehab” and “Sober House” to help him get over the addiction.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2001, the Californian admitted to selling drugs over a period of several years and spending three months in the California Institution for Men after an attempted burglary.

In 2012, he was hospitalized after losing consciousness and even falling into a coma before regaining consciousness.

Just two months ago, he posted a heartfelt message about his journey to sobriety, writing, “I’m more of a lover than a fighter…but the person I need to love more than fight with is myself…Mr. Shifty true love #Sober, alive and grateful (sic).”

Binzer also featured on British producer Paul Oakenfold’s hit single “Starry Eyed Surprise” from his first album “Bunkka”, which reached number six in the UK singles chart.

In 2004 he released his solo album “Happy Love Sick” and was also the frontman of the band “Shifty and the Big Shots”.

Binzer had three sons, Gage, Halo and Phoenix, with three different partners: Melissa Clark, whom he married in 2002 and divorced in 2011, Tracey Shelor and British model Jasmine Lennard.

In 2022, he began dating his childhood friend, Punky Brewster actress Soleil Moon Frye, when he was arrested in Los Angeles for driving under the influence. Then in April of last year, he was arrested again, but in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for driving under the influence.