GRAMMY NODS FOR DEAD PERFORMERS

Next year's Grammy Awards will be a sadder affair than usual - three artists nominated on Thursday (06Dec07) have died.

Rapper Pimp C has been given a nod in the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group category for his collaboration with UGK pal Bun B on the tune International Players Anthem (I Choose You), just two days after he was found dead in a hotel room in Los Angeles. It is believed he died in his sleep of natural causes.

Elsewhere, Sergio Gomez is nominated in the Best Band Album category for his group K-Paz de la Sierra's album Conquistando Corazones. Gomez was tortured and strangled on Sunday (02Dec07), shortly after a concert at a soccer stadium in Morelia, Mexico.

There was also a nomination in the same category, for Valentin Elizalde, who was murdered in November 2006.

Elizalde and Gomez were victims of a wave of violence striking the Mexican entertainment industry, which also claimed the life of singer Zayda Pena, 28, who was shot in a hospital on Saturday (01Dec07), while she recovered from being shot the day before.