Crazy Town’s Shifty Shellshock’s cause of death has been confirmed as an overdose.
The Butterfly hitmaker – whose birth name was Seth Binzer – died on June 24, at the age of 49, and the band’s manager, Howie Hubberman, has revealed that drugs played a role in his death.
He told PEOPLE: “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 Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not yet listed a cause of death for the singer, as it is waiting for the return of the toxicology report.
Binzer 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’s 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 Binzer 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.
It samples Pretty Little Ditty from the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 1989 album Mother’s Milk, so the group are credited as songwriters.
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.
