Seth Binzer, frontman for rap-rock band Crazy Town and singer of their hit “Butterfly,” has died, according to Los Angeles officials. He was 49.
Binzer was found at his Los Angeles residence on Monday, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. No cause was given.
Binzer founded Crazy Town in 1995 with best friend Bret Mazur. Their song “Butterfly,” with its catchy “come my lady” refrain, became a massive party anthem in 2000 and was used in the opening scene of “Something’s Gotta Give.”
The song was from Crazy Town’s debut album “The Gift of Game,” which won them a spot as the supporting act for the Red Hot Chili Peppers tour. But subsequent releases never measured up to “Butterfly,” and Crazy Town’s original lineup broke up in 2002.
They re-formed in 2015 for a third album, “The Brimstone Sluggers” – a reference to the group’s original name – but it was a commercial failure by comparison. Mazur left in 2017, and Binzer continued to perform as Crazy Town X.
Binzer struggled for all of his adult life with addiction and other forms of trouble; as a young man he spent time in a California state prison system for burglary and selling drugs. He appeared on VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab” and graduated with his class, but relapsed – which led to a cameo on “Celebrity Rehab 2” in which he needed to be retrieved from a Pasadena hotel room.
He had three sons by three different women, and was dating “Punky Brewster” star Soleil Moon Frye as recently as 2022.