Crazy Town frontman Shifty Shellshock, who experienced a great deal of success with the 1999/2000 megahit “Butterfly”, has passed away at the age of 49. Reports surfaced from multiple outlets early this morning.
Born Seth Binzer, he experienced massive success right out of the gate with 1999 debut album The Gift Of Game, which spawned the eternally popular single “Butterfly”. While the single was criticized by music critics, there’s no doubt it was successful. It propelled the album sell over 1 million copies in the USA alone, and though this happened at a time where CD sales were the highest in history, the song itself eventually became a number one hit in March 2001.
Likely affected by the pressure to follow up a million selling album as well as a number one hit single, the band eventually disbanded after their sophomore album Darkhorse failed to meet expectations. The band eventually reunited in various incarnations years later though, releasing new material intermittently. And the thing about “Butterfly” is that it was a song so big, you couldn’t escape it for a few years.
RIP, Seth.
