The US singer Seth Binzer, whose rap-rock band Crazy Town became a No 1 hit with 2001’s Butterfly, died as a result of an accidental drug overdose, his group’s manager told the Guardian on Friday.
Crazy Town manager Howie Hubberman said the death on Monday of the musician known as Shifty Shellshock occurred after he ingested an unintentionally lethal combination of pharmaceutical and street drugs, though the medical examiner in the vocalist’s home town of Los Angeles had not yet provided details on an official cause or manner of death.
“We failed Shifty – the people, like myself, who enabled him to do stuff,” Hubberman said in a brief interview Friday. “If we had been successful, he would still be here.”
Binzer, 49, was found dead at his home in LA. He had opened up about his battle with substance abuse addiction for a documentary filmed by the actor and screen director Soleil Moon Frye, whom he was confirmed to be dating for a time beginning in about 2021.
“It’s about his daily life and daily struggles with addiction,” Hubberman said about the film, which had not been released at the time of Binzer’s death. “It exists, and now we want its message out more than ever.”
In the US alone, nearly 108,000 people died from drug-involved overdoses in 2022, the most recent year for which there was complete data as of Friday. The number includes illicit and prescription drugs, according to the federal government.
Butterfly was the third single from Crazy Town’s debut album in 1999, The Gift of Game. Released as a single in 2000, Butterfly had climbed to No 1 on the US charts the following year, and it peaked at No 3 in the UK.
Binzer knew the song would be a hit because it was “very radio-friendly [and] the female audience loves it”. He and his bandmates feared that Butterfly would come to define the band, which proved prescient when a second album, 2002’s Darkhorse, did not perform as well as their first effort, and the group soon went on a four-year hiatus.
As a solo artist, Binzer provided the vocals to Paul Oakenfold’s single Starry Eyed Surprise, which peaked at No 6 in the UK and managed to come within one spot of the US top 40 in 2002.
Crazy Town would subsequently perform together again, though it would endure the deaths of former members Rust Epique in 2004 and DJ AM in 2009. Binzer also eventually renamed the group Crazy Town X.
In addition to his music, Binzer became known for participating in the VH1 reality show Celebrity Rehab. He also took part in the spinoff show Sober House, which saw him relapse.
Among Binzer’s publicly documented legal troubles was an arrest for allegedly driving under the influence in 2022.
Hubberman on Friday described Binzer as a friend who had fought to overcome his problems with addiction. He said Binzer leaves behind three children.
“We failed to get him help, and he’s not here anymore,” Hubberman said.