Shifty Shellshock, the frontman of rap rock band Crazy Town, best known for their hit song “Butterfly,” has died aged 49. The musician – whose birth name was Seth Binzer – died at his home on Monday (24 June), according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s website. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
Crazy Town found fame in the late Nineties and early Noughties, thanks to their 1999 hit song “Butterfly”. Binzer met his Crazy Town co-founder, Bret Mazur, in 1992. They first began making music under the name the Brimstone Sluggers, but changed their moniker in 1999 when they added bandmates Rust Epique, James Bradley Jr, Doug Miller, Adam Goldstein, and Antonio Lorenzo Valli.
They released their debut album, The Gift of Game , in 1999 to reviews, which ranged from tepid to negative. Crazy Town supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers on tour later that year. Their hit song “Butterfly” was the third track on their debut record.
It sampled the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 1989 song “Pretty Little Ditty”, featuring Binzer’s relaxed rapping style. “Butterfly” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks, and remains the band’s biggest hit to date. On it, Binzer is heard rapping: “Come my lady, come come my lady/ You’re my butterfly, sugar baby.
” The song was responsible for launching the band into the American music scene, and introducing the band to a new audience when it was played in the opening sequence of Jack Nicholson and Diane Ke.