Shifty Shellshock, the co-founder and co-singer of Los Angeles rap-rock band Crazy Town, has died. Variety reports, citing public information about the Los Angeles County Coroner's website. The cause of the musician's death has not been made known. He was 49 years old.
Shifty Shellshock was born Seth Brooks Binzer to Leslie Brooks, a former model, and Rollin Binzer, a director and producer who directed the concert film. Ladies and gentlemen: The Rolling Stones.
Seth Binzer met the late Crazy Town co-founder and co-singer Bret Hadley “Epic” Mazur in the early 1990s, and the group released its first studio album. The gift of play, in November 1999 via Columbia. The LP featured “Butterfly”, a song that used the instrumental “Pretty Little Ditty” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and became a hit in its own right, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Crazy Town failed to repeat the success of “Butterfly”, but their second album, 2002's Black Horseincluded the relatively popular “Drowning” and a song with Weezer's Rivers Cuomo called “He hurt you so bad.”
Crazy Town went on hiatus after Black Horseand Shifty Shellshock released his only solo album, Happy Love Sickin July 2004. The album featured the rapper's biggest song outside of the group, a collaboration with English DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold entitled “Starry Eyed Surprise.”
Shifty Shellshock and Epic Mazur reunite for another Crazy Town album, The Brimstone Sluggersin August 2015. Mazur left the team in 2017, and Shifty Shellshock renamed the band as Crazy Town X.
Beyond Crazy Town, Shifty Shellshock appeared in the movies Clifford (1994) and Dead 7 (2016). He was also public about his struggles with substance abuse, appearing on several seasons of the VH1 reality show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and Celebrity Rehab presents Sober House.
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