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One of the most powerful voices of the civil rights movement, Sweet Honey in the Rock co-founder Bernice Johnson Reagon, has died at 81. Daughter and musician Toshi Reagon announced the news in a Facebook post on Wednesday (July 17) in which she announced that the “multi-award-winning force and cultural voice for freedom” passed on Tuesday; no cause of death was given.
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“As a scholar, singer, composer, organizer and activist, Dr. Reagon spent over half a century speaking out against racism and systemic inequities in the U.S. and globally,” her daughter wrote of the singer who co-founded the civil rights vocal ensemble The Freedom Singers as well as the Grammy-nominated all-female vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Reagon was a key part of the civil rights fight in the 1960s, lending her voice to anthems illustrating the struggle by African-Americans via her founding of the Freedom Singers, who came together at Albany State College in Albany, GA in 1962. The group’s powerful combination of Baptist church-influenced singing and protest anthems, anchored by Reagon’s soulful, expressive vocals, led to a collaboration with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a group of Black college students who led peaceful direct action protests across the country, including Freedom Rides and voter registration campaigns that often elicited violent reactions from police and racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.
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Johnson, the daughter of Baptist minster J.J. Johnson, was born in Dougherty County, GA on Oct. 4, 1942 and enrolled in the historically black public college Albany State College (now known as Albany State University) in 1959 at age 16. She was active in civil rights activities and protests on campus, though she was in jail when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in December 1961 in Albany along with hundreds of others on charges of obstructing the sidewalk and parading without a permit.
“I was already in jail, so I missed most of that,” she told WHYY’s Fresh Air in 1988. “But what they began to write about… no matter what the article said, they talked about singing.” Those revamped church songs, which Reagon would say often swapped “freedom” in for “Jesus,” as well as her activism got the singer expelled from Albany state after her arrest for protesting. That led to Reagon founding the a cappella Freedom Singers in 1962, whose songs often served as a record of the civil rights struggle, from tributes to fallen leaders (“They Laid Medgar Evers in His Grave”), to a revamp of the movement’s anthem, “We Shall Overcome” and “Free At Last,” which took its name from a quote in Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. She also co-founded the Atlanta-based group the Harambee Singers in 1966, whose work was tied to the growing Black Consciousness Movement at the time.
Following her divorce from Freedom Singer’s co-founder Cordell Reagon in 1967, Reagon went back to school at Spelman College in 1970 to complete her undergraduate degree. A Ford Foundation fellowship to study at another HBCU, Howard University, led to Reagon receiving a Ph.D. from the school, one of a number academic honors she would collect over the the course of her life.
Among her many academic titles, Reagon was a Professor Emeritus of History at American University, Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Cosby Chair of Fine Arts at Spelman College. She was also the principal scholar and host of the 26-part Peabody Award-winning 1994 NPR series/Smithsonian series Wade in the Water and the score composer for the Peabody-winning 1998 film series Africans in America. She was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 1989 in honor of her work in music performance and composition, musicology and ethnomusicology as an upholder of the Black oral, performance, protest and worship traditions.
Reagon co-founded the six-member all-female a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1973, a vocal ensemble that toured the world with a rotating group of singers who combined Gospel music, jazz, blues and African traditions, with hymns and song stories that touched on topics ranging from love and spirituality to racism and domestic violence. Among their signature tracks are “Ella’s Song” in honor of civil rights leader Ella Baker and “Biko,” a tribute to South African freedom fighter Steve Biko.
The group, which Reagon directed for three decades before retiring from in 2003, has released more than two dozen albums since their eponymous 1976 debut LP. Reagon wrote the group’s memoir, We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey in the Rock, Still on the Journey in 1993 and also compiled the booklet for the 2-CD collection Voices of the Civil Rights: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1965 from Smithsonian Folkways Records. In addition to her work singing in and producing Sweet Honey in the Rock, Reagon released solo efforts, including 1975’s Give Your Hands to Struggle and 1986’s River of Life.
Check out some of Sweet Honey in the Rock’s songs below.
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Richard Simmons, the fitness guru with a flamboyant, relentlessly positive persona, died Saturday (July 13) at his home in the Hollywood Hills. His death, which appears to be from natural causes, came one day after his 76th birthday.
Simmons’ multi-faceted fitness empire included at least 12 books, 10 CDs and 22 DVDs, including five volumes of his signature Sweatin’ to the Oldies.
Simmons had a platinum album in 1982 with Reach, which rode the Billboard 200 for 40 weeks. The album consisted of Simmons singing motivational songs such as “What Are You Waiting For?,” “You Can Do It,” “Wake Up,” “Reach” and “Live It.”
Simmons’ album entered the Billboard 200 in the week ending June 5, 1982, one week after Jane Fonda’s Workout Record debuted. Jane Fonda‘s double-disk album reached No. 15 on the chart and went double-platinum. It consisted mostly of such upbeat jams as The Jacksons’ “Can You Feel It” and Brothers Johnson’s “Stomp!” Both albums were part of the get-fit craze of the era, which was also immortalized in Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” video, which was released in 1981.
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Simmons’ colorful personality made him a natural for television, where he achieved his greatest fame. From 1980-84, he headlined his own daytime talk show The Richard Simmons Show, focusing on personal health, fitness, exercise, and healthy cooking. He also made frequent appearances as himself on General Hospital and many other programs.
He was also a frequent guest of late-night television and radio talk shows, such as Late Night with David Letterman (NBC) and Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) and The Howard Stern Show, where those hosts knew just how far they could tease Simmons without crossing the line into cruelty. Simmons, dressed in his signature Dolphin shorts and sparkly tank-tops, always seemed to be in on the joke.
He understood his role in show business. In a 2012 interview with Men’s Health, he was quoted as saying: “When the king gets depressed, he doesn’t call for his wife or the cook. He turns to the little man with the pointed hat and says to the court jester ‘make me laugh.’ And I am that court jester.”
Simmons was born Milton Teagle Simmons was born on July 12, 1948, in New Orleans. He grew up in the French Quarter, where, he noted in his biography, “lard was a food group and dessert mandatory.” Simmons struggled with his weight from an early age. He reportedly weighed 268 pounds when he graduated high school.
Upon moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s, Simmons developed an interest in fitness. He opened an exercise studio, the Anatomy Asylum, later renamed Slimmons. His interest in fitness helped him lose more than 100 pounds. In 2010, he proudly announced that he had kept that weight off for 42 years.
Simmons didn’t make any major public appearances after 2014. In February 2017, the podcast Missing Richard Simmons launched, investigating why Simmons left public life so suddenly.
In August 2022, in response to continued rumors and a TMZ documentary, What Really Happened to Richard Simmons, Simmons issued a statement to the New York Post that he “is happy, healthy, and living the life he has chosen to live.”
In March 2024, Simmons revealed that he had been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, located underneath his right eye. That same month, Simmons issued a statement clarifying that he is not dying, after a cryptic Facebook post he had written drew public concern.
“I am … dying,” Simmons had written on Facebook. “Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death. Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to enjoy your life to the fullest every single day. Get up in the morning and look at the sky … count your blessings and enjoy. “
Earlier this year, actor Pauly Shore portrayed Simmons in a short film called The Court Jester, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. In promoting the movie, Shore teased the production of a larger biopic on the fitness icon
Simmons, however, made it clear that he was not on board with the film.
“You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore,” Simmons wrote in a post. “I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.”
Simmons, who was active on social media, appeared to be in good spirits Friday, on his birthday. He posted a black-and-white photo of himself next to a cake. “I never got so many messages about my birthday in my life!” Simmons wrote on Facebook. “I am sitting here writing emails. Have a most beautiful rest of your Friday.”
Shelley Duvall, the intrepid, Texas-born movie star whose wide-eyed, winsome presence was a mainstay in the films of Robert Altman and who co-starred in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” has died. She was 75.
Duvall died Thursday in her sleep at home in Blanco, Texas, her longtime partner, Dan Gilroy, announced. The cause was complications from diabetes, said her friend, the publicist Gary Springer.
“My dear, sweet, wonderful life, partner, and friend left us last night,” Gilroy said in a statement. “Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away beautiful Shelley.”
Duvall was attending junior college in Texas when Altman’s crew members, preparing to film “Brewster McCloud,” encountered her at a Houston party in 1970. They introduced the 20-year-old to the director, who cast her in “Brewster McCloud” and made her his protege.
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Duvall would go on to appear in Altman films including “Thieves Like Us,” “Nashville,” “Popeye,” “Three Women” and “McCabe & Ms. Miller.”
“He offers me damn good roles,” Duvall told The New York Times in 1977. “None of them have been alike. He has a great confidence in me, and a trust and respect for me, and he doesn’t put any restrictions on me or intimidate me, and I love him. I remember the first advice he ever gave me: ‘Don’t take yourself seriously.’”
Duvall, gaunt and gawky, was no conventional Hollywood starlet. But she had a beguilingly frank manner and exuded a singular naturalism. The film critic Pauline Kael called her the “female Buster Keaton.”
At her peak, Duvall was a regular star in some of the defining movies of the 1970s. In “The Shining” (1980), she played Wendy Torrance, who watches in horror as her husband, Jack (Jack Nicholson), goes crazy while their family is isolated in the Overlook Hotel. It was Duvall’s screaming face that made up half of the film’s most iconic image, along with Jack’s axe coming through the door.
Kubrick, a famous perfectionist, was notoriously hard on Duvall in making “The Shining.” His methods of pushing her through countless takes in the most anguished scenes took a toll on the actor. One scene was reportedly performed in 127 takes. The entire shoot took 13 months. Duvall, in a 1981 interview with People magazine, said she was crying “12 hours a day for weeks on end” during the film’s production.
“I will never give that much again,” said Duvall. “If you want to get into pain and call it art, go ahead, but not with me.”
Duvall disappeared from movies almost as quickly as she arrived in them. By the 1990s, she began retiring from acting and retreated from public life.
“How would you feel if people were really nice, and then, suddenly, on a dime, they turn on you?” Duvall told the Times earlier this year. “You would never believe it unless it happens to you. That’s why you get hurt, because you can’t really believe it’s true.”
Duvall, the oldest of four, was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 7, 1949. Her father, Robert, was a cattle auctioneer before working in law and her mother, Bobbie, was a real estate agent.
Duvall married the artist Bernard Sampson in 1970. They divorced four years later. Duvall was in a long-term relationship with the musician Paul Simon in the late ’70s after meeting during the making of Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall.” (Duvall played the rock critic who keeps declaring things “transplendent.”) She also dated Ringo Starr. During the making of the 1990 Disney Channel movie “Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Duvall met the musician Dan Gilroy, of the group Breakfast Club, with whom she remained until her death.
Duvall’s run in the 1970s was remarkably versatile. In the rugged Western “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” (1971), she played the mail-order bride Ida. She was a groupie in “Nashville” (1975) and Olive Oyl, opposite Robin Williams, in “Popeye” (1980). In “3 Women,” co-starring Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule, Duvall played Millie Lammoreaux, a Palm Springs health spa worker, and won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the 1980s, Duvall produced and hosted a number of children’s TV series, among them “Faerie Tale Theatre,” “Tall Tales & Legends” and “Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.”
Duvall moved back to Texas in the mid-1990s. Around 2002, after making the comedy “Manna from Heaven,” she retreated from Hollywood completely. Her whereabouts became a favorite topic of internet sleuths. A favorite but incorrect theory was that it was residual trauma from the grueling shoot for “The Shining.” Another was that the damage to her home after the 1994 Northridge earthquake was the last straw.
To those living in Texas Hill Country, where Duvall lived for some 30 years, she was neither in “hiding” nor a recluse. But her circumstances were a mystery to both the media and many of her old Hollywood friends. That changed in 2016, when producers for the “Dr. Phil” show tracked her down and aired a controversial hourlong interview with her in which she spoke about her mental health issues. “I’m very sick. I need help,” Duvall said on the program, which was widely criticized for being exploitative.
“I found out the kind of person he is the hard way,” Duvall told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.
THR journalist Seth Abramovitch wrote at the time that he went on a pilgrimage to find her because “it didn’t feel right for McGraw’s insensitive sideshow to be the final word on her legacy.”
Duvall attempted to restart her career, dipping her toe in with the indie horror “The Forest Hills” that filmed in 2022 and premiered quietly in early 2023.
“Acting again — it’s so much fun,” Duvall told People at the time. “It enriches your life.”
This story was originally published by The Associated Press.
Jon Bon Jovi paid loving tribute to the Bongiovi family matriarch on Wednesday (July 10), a day after his mother, Carol Bongiovi, died at 83. The Bon Jovi front man’s mom died of undisclosed causes on Tuesday (July 9) at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, N.J. just a three days short of her 84th birthday.
“Our mother was a force to be reckoned with, her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family. She will be greatly missed,” Bon Jovi, 62, said in a statement from the family; Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi Jr.) has two younger brothers, Anthony and fellow musician Matthew Bongiovi. In addition to being a former Playboy playmate and florist, Carol was married to barber and fellow Marine veteran John Francis Bongiovi Sr. and operated her son’s fan club for many years.
According to an obituary from the Holmdel Funeral Home, the family matriarch enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1959, where she met her future husband. The couple moved to Sayreville, N.J. after their hitch in the military, where they raised their family before moving to Holmdel, N.J.
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The woman affectionally referred to as “Mom Jovi” by the Garden State legends’ fans made a cameo, along with his dad, in the singer’s 2021 “Story of Love” video. In the visual, Jon strummed an acoustic guitar in front of a wall of family photos — including a giant black and white snap of his folks with their eldest son — as he sang about familia love. “Father love daughters like mothers love sons,” he sang. “They’ve been writing our story before there was one/ From the day you arrive/ ‘Til you walk, ‘Til you run/ There is nothing but pride, there is nothing but love/ They can offer advice that you don’t wanna hear/ Words that cut like a knife and still ring in your ear.”
In an interview with the Big Issue in 2020, Bon Jovi, 62, spoke lovingly of the lessons he learned from his parents, especially their unwavering support after his admittedly “terrible” first talent show performance as a teen. “What I got from my parents was the ability to make the dream reality. They always instilled that confidence in their kids which, in retrospect, I realize was so incredibly valuable,” he told the mag at the time. “Because even if you truly weren’t any good at your craft, if you believed you were, you could work on it. As I got older I realized that was a great gift that I got from my folks. They truly believed in the John Kennedy mantra of going to the moon. ‘Yeah, of course you can go to the moon. Just go, Johnny.’ And there I went.”
Carol Bongiovi was born Carol Sharkey in Erie, Pennsylvania on July, 12, 1940 and is survived by her husband of 63 years, their three sons and daughters-in-law as well as eight grandchildren.
Adrian Olivares, an ex-member of famed Latin boy band Menudo, died at the age of 48 on Monday (July 8). The news was confirmed by fellow bandmate Robert Avellanet, who shared a photo carousel on Instagram of the time they were both part of the group. “I’m still in shock! Strength for your family,” he […]
Joe Bonsall, the tenor in The Oak Ridge Boys, died on Tuesday (July 9) from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the group announced on its website and social media accounts. He was 76, and died in Hendersonville, Tenn. Bonsall had announced his retirement from touring at the beginning of the year.
In 1973, Bonsall left his position with gospel group The Keystones to join The Oak Ridge Boys. The Oaks, in which Bonsall teamed with Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban, first found success as a gospel group. They segued into country music in 1977 with “Y’All Come Back Saloon,” their first of 34 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Top Country Songs chart.
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The Oaks landed 17 No. 1 hits on that chart, the third-highest total among duos and groups after Alabama (33) and Brooks & Dunn (20). Two of the Oaks’ country chart-toppers became top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Elvira” (No. 5 in 1981) and “Bobbie Sue” (No. 12 in 1982).
The group landed three No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, two of which became top 20 albums on the all-genre Billboard 200 – Fancy Free (No. 14 in 1981) and Bobbie Sue (No. 20 in 1982).
The Oaks won five Grammys. The first four were in gospel categories; the fifth in country, for “Elvira.” That platinum-selling smash won best country performance by a duo or group with vocal.
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The Oaks won two CMA awards – vocal group of the year in 1978 and single of the year in 1981 for “Elvira.”
They won four ACM Awards – top vocal group in 1978, album of the year that same year for Ya’ll Come Back Saloon, single record of the year in 1981 for “Elvira” and the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award in 2007.
The Oaks’ 1979 concert trek with headliners Kenny Rogers and Dottie West is considered the first full-fledged country arena tour, Tom Roland reported in this recap of the group’s 50 years.
As a 50-year member of the The Oak Ridge Boys, Bonsall was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame, the latter in 2015.
“For 50 years, Joe Bonsall was the Oak Ridge Boys’ sparkplug,” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement. “He was as exciting a performer as any who ever hit a gospel or country stage. His tenor voice was high and clear, and his jovial spirit always provided a jolt of energy, immediately rousing audiences to come on in and take a load off. He certainly lightened our cares every time he sang.”
“When I think of the Oak Ridge Boys and their place in country music history, the image of Joe with his huge smile and boundless energy comes to mind so clearly,” Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association CEO, said in a statement. “His commitment to serving others while developing country music into a worldwide sensation will never be forgotten and our industry has been made better because of him. Today, we lost an incomparable energy and voice in music. He will be missed greatly by all who were fortunate to know him.”
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Bonsall was also the author of 11 books including his latest, a memoir entitled I See Myself, which is set for release in November.
Bonsall’s final show with the Oaks was on Dec. 17, 2023. In January, he revealed that he had battled the slow onset of a neuromuscular disorder for more than four years. “I am now at a point where walking is impossible, so I have basically retired from the road. It has just gotten too difficult,” he said in a statement. “It has been a great 50 years, and I am thankful to all the Oak Ridge Boys band crew and staff for the constant love and support shown to me through it all. I will never forget, and for those of you who have been constantly holding me up in prayer, I thank you and ask for you to keep on praying.”
At Bonsall’s request, there will be no funeral. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The ALS Association or to the Vanderbilt Medical Center ALS and Neuroscience Research Center.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Ann; daughters Jennifer and Sabrina; granddaughter Breanne; grandson Luke; two great grandsons, Chance and Grey; and a sister, Nancy. He is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph S. Bonsall Sr. and Lillie Bonsall.
Bonsall’s death comes just eight days after the death of William “Rusty” Golden, a musician, songwriter and son of The Oak Ridge Boys member William Lee Golden. The younger Golden died on July 1 at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn. He was 65. William Lee Golden said in a statement at that time, “This is the hardest thing ever for a father to have to face. I love family more than anything. Rusty was a great musician, a talented songwriter and a wonderful son. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers for the days ahead. I love you, son.”
See The Oak Ridge Boys’ announcement below:
Veteran music manager and record label executive Mary Martin — a champion, career guider and musical connector for artists including Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill — died on Thursday (July 4) at age 85, according to a statement from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Born on June 15, 1939, Martin, a Toronto native, studied briefly at the University of British Columbia before moving to New York in the 1960s and working as an executive assistant to Albert Grossman, a manager for Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot and Peter, Paul and Mary.
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“Working for Albert Grossman in those days, it didn’t matter how menial the task was,” Martin said during a 2009 interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where she was honored as part of the Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum. “It was that we were surrounded and enveloped by all these great artists.”
After returning to Toronto, Martin got involved with the folk music scene and became aware of the band The Hawks, which inclueded members Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko. The group would later become known as The Band, and Martin is credited with connecting the group with Dylan in the mid-1960s.
Martin went on to become an artist manager for artists including Cohen, who would later release songs including “Suzanne” and “Sisters of Mercy.” She began managing Morrison just as he released such star-making albums as Astral Weeks, Moondance and Tupelo Honey.
Throughout much of the 1970s, Martin worked as an influential A&R executive for Warner Bros. Records, signing and developing the careers of artists including Emmylou Harris and Leon Redbone.
“If you take her out of the equation, my life would be very, very different,” Harris said in the trailer for the documentary Mary Martin: Music Maven.
After leaving Warner Bros., Martin began managing Crowell, a relationship that lasted from 1979 to 1983. In 1983, she became the manager for Gill, who was at the time a guitarist in Crowell’s band The Cherry Bombs. After Martin connected Gill with then-RCA Records Nashville head Joe Galante, he signed a label deal with RCA, which would launch Gill to country music stardom on the strength of songs including “Oklahoma Borderline,” “When I Call Your Name” and “I Still Believe in You.”
In the Music Maven documentary trailer, Gill calls Martin “one of the special people on earth that uses her gift for the right reasons. There’s no question she’s a rare breed.”
“Mary and I started working together in ’85,” Galante tells Billboard in a statement. “Her knowledge, frankness, humor and wit were a powerful combination. We hit it off instantly. She was never interested in musical trends. Mary was focused on artists that could make music that would last. She was respected and loved by people throughout the industry. Mary raised the bar for us all creatively. I will miss that smile and distinctive laugh.”
Martin halted work as Gill’s manager when she joined RCA in an A&R role. While at the label, she signed artists including singer-songwriter Matraca Berg and guided the careers of artists including Lorrie Morgan and Clint Black.
Over the course of her career, Martin also worked at Asylum and Mercury Records (where she co-produced the Grammy-winning Hank Williams tribute album Timeless). It was also Martin who offered early career encouragement to another triple-threat singer-songwriter-guitarist named Keith Urban, encouraging him to move to Nashville from Australia to pursue his musical aspirations.
“Time and again, Mary Martin spotted great talents and elevated their careers,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement. “Early on, she connected Bob Dylan to her friends the Hawks, who became the Band. She managed Leonard Cohen in his first musical outings, then guided the budding solo careers of Van Morrison, Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill. At Warner Bros., she signed future Country Music Hall of Fame member Emmylou Harris, at RCA she helped sign and develop Clint Black and Lorrie Morgan, and she encouraged a young Keith Urban to move from Australia to Nashville. Mary’s unerring feel for songs and performers was legendary, and she was a fierce ally for the artists she represented.”
Martin was also a survivor of sexual assault and became a strong advocate for justice for fellow survivors.
In 2007, Martin was given a lifetime achievement award by the Nashville music industry group SOURCE and celebrated with the Americana Music Association’s Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, she was honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as part of the Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum.
Kinky Friedman, the country singer-songwriter known for songs like “Sold American” and his quick wit in his writings, interviews and beyond, died at his home in Texas. He was 79 years old. His death was announced via a statement posted to X. “Kinky Friedman stepped on a rainbow at his beloved Echo Hill surrounded by family & […]
Rapper Julio Foolio is dead at 26 after being shot outside a hotel in Florida early Sunday morning (June 23), his attorney confirmed to NBC News. The “Pain” rapper — born Charles Jones — was celebrating his 26th birthday Saturday night (June 22) before relocating to a Holiday Inn, where, according to his lawyer Lewis […]
Shifty Shellshock, the frontman of rap rock band Crazy Town, has died at 49, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. The musician died at home on Monday (June 24), and the cause of death is still pending investigation.
Shellshock was born Seth Binzer on Aug. 23, 1974. He met Crazy Town co-founder Bret Mazer in 1992, and the band went on to add various members, including Adam Goldstein (better known as DJ AM, who died from an accidental overdose in 2009), Rust Epique, Antonio Lorenzo Valli, James Bradley Jr., among others. The band released its debut album The Gift of Game in November 1999. It peaked at No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard 200 on the chart dated March 3, 2001, and remained on the tally for 34 weeks.
The set’s first two singles, “Toxic” and “Darkside,” failed to chart, but the third time was the charm for Crazy Town. “Butterfly” — which sampled the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Pretty Little Ditty” — arrived in October 2000 as the album’s third single and climbed to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where it held the top spot for two weeks with its catchy chorus: “Come my lady, come come my lady / You’re my butterfly, sugar baby/ Come my lady, you’re my pretty baby/ I’ll make your legs shake, you make me go crazy.”
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In all, the track remained on the chart for 23 weeks and is the group’s biggest hit to this day. (The track made Billboard‘s One-Hit Wonders of the 2000s list in 2014; the band did not land another song on the tally during its career.)
Sophomore album Darkhorse was released in November 2002 and debuted at No. 120. It failed to reach any higher, and fell off the chart after one week. The band broke up shortly after.
Binzer was open about his struggles with substance abuse. He appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew in 2008, and VH1’s Sober House from 2009 to 2010.
He is survived by his kids Halo, Gage and Phoenix.