You might remember rap-rock band Crazy Town thanks to their hit single "Butterfly." But you probably don't know much else about them. That's a shame, because their history is as rock 'n' roll as it gets, and not always in a good way.
"Butterfly," Crazy Town's most famous song, might sound a bit nonsensical on first listen. Also its apparently sincere effort to be a heartfelt love song is somewhat undermined by the fact that its lyrics mention nipples in the first verse. But it turns out that the infamous "sugar baby" part of the chorus comes directly from lead singer Shifty Shellshock's own life. His girlfriend didn't much care for how sexist the band's songs had been before "Butterfly" was released. She happened to collect butterflies, and one day, Shellshock spontaneously said the soon-to-be-famous "you're my butterfly, sugar baby" to her.
Ultimately, that line didn't work, at least not for the health of their relationship, as Shellshock and his girlfriend had a number of other issues they were ultimately unable to work through. They were both struggling with substance abuse and were accustomed to hard partying, and Shellshock's time on the road didn't exactly help their severe codependency issues. As a result, Shellshock, who had been trying to get sober, fell off the wagon so hard that the band was kicked out of Ozzfest in 2000, and the two broke up. The ex-couple were eventually able to mend at least some of their fences, and she even appears as a butterfly lady in the music video for "Butterfly."
Watch the video for more about The Messed Up History Of Crazy Town!
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The dark side of "Butterfly" | 0:13
Legal troubles | 1:19
Addiction struggles | 2:28
Tragically short lives | 3:48
Tour bus crash | 5:05