Crazy Town singer Shifty Shellshock’s death has been ruled an accident due to an overdose.
Shifty Shellshock’s death has been ruled an accident.
The Crazy Town frontman – whose birth name was Seth Binzer – passed away on June 24, at the age of 49, and his cause of death has now been certified by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office and attributed to the effects of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
The band’s manager, Howie Hubberman, previously revealed that drugs played a role in the ‘Butterfly’ hitmaker’s death.
He told People magazine the day after his passing: “Seth Binzer, after struggling with addiction and Crazy Town’s rapid success with ‘Butterfly,’ never was able to reach out on a more successful level to deal with his addictions. We all tried, but ultimately we all failed, or Shifty would still be here.
“The cause of death was a combination of prescription drugs and street purchased drugs. Shifty was a friend and really wanted to get himself fixed — unfortunately no one had the exact tools to do this, myself included.”
The singer 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.
Back in 2012, he 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)”
Meanwhile, he met Crazy Town co-frontman Bret Mazur, 53, in 1992, and they first called themselves Brimstone Sluggers.
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 Shifty 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.
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.
