A mysterious final photo was shared to the Instagram account of Crazy Town frontman Shifty Shellshock in the months before he died.
The 49-year-old, whose real name is Seth Brooks Binzer, died at his home in Los Angeles on Monday according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
Binzer made an eerie final post to his Instagram account on April 29, with the caption: “To the ones who stay even when I try my hardest to scare them away.”
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The picture depicted a man wearing all black, including a black mask, standing in a crowd of people wearing white clothing with white masks.
A caption on the picture read: “Real is rare. Fake is everywhere.”
Binzer’s cause of death is listed as “deferred,” pending additional investigation.
The news was confirmed by Binzer’s publicist Kelly Springer, who told CNN her client “was a courageous fighter”.
“So full of talent, light, compassion, love and grace,” she said.
“He will be missed by so many. He was one of those souls that was magnetic. We will miss you Seth. We are heartbroken. Thank you for your talents and contributions to our music industry. We were all blessed to have had you.”
Binzer and Bret Mazur co-founded the rap-rock band in the mid-1990s, with Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein later joining the group.
Crazy Town became popular in the early 2000s when the hit Butterfly was released, and spent two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.
The band sold more than six million copies of their debut album The Gift of the Game, released in 1999.
After Crazy Town released their second studio album Darkhorse in 2002, Binzer and Mazur parted ways.
Binzer went on to work as a songwriter, producer and sound mixer for bands including The Plain White Tees, Julien K and Hollywood Undead, among others, according to the band’s biography on their Facebook page.
Binzer had been open about his struggles with substance abuse, most notably through his appearances on the 2008 season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and on two seasons of Sober House between 2009 and 2010.
“I have a really good group of people around me,” Binzer said on a 2023 episode of the Punk Rock MBA podcast.
“I’m very grateful to be here.”
He added that he was continuing to make music, describing it as something that has “become my therapy for myself.
“Even if no one gets it and it helps me, then I guess it’s good. And if people love it, that’s even better.”
Earlier this year, Binzer re-released a remix of Butterfly in a collaboration with the rock band Black Oxygen called Butterfly (New Anthem).
He also released an EP in March titled Flirting With Disaster under the band name Crazy Town X, alongside band members Mark_CXT, DJ Rick One and Sean Heenan.
Binzer reflected on his sobriety in one of his final Instagram posts, writing in April that he was “grateful”.
“I’m a lover than a fighter,” he wrote. “But the one I need to love more Instead of fight with is myself.”
The musician is survived by his three children, Halo, Gage and Phoenix.
– With CNN