On Monday, Captain Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County coroner's office said that the death of Pimp C was “accidental”. He cited Promethazine/Codeine syrup and sleep apnea as factors involved in the death of Chad Butler, the real name of Pimp C. Winter also revealed that Pimp C's sleep apnea was a pre-existing health condition.

Pimp C, 33, was found dead on December 4, 2007, in his room on the sixth floor of the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollyowood by the L.A. County Fire Department. On December 1, Pimp C performed a show with labelmate Too Short at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.

While in high school, Chad “Pimp C” Butler formed the UGK duo with his friend Bernard "Bun B" Freeman and in 1992 they signed a record deal with Jive Records. Their way to success started in 1996 the song Ridin' Dirty from their second album “Super Tight”.

But in 2002, Pimp C was sentenced to eight years for failing to complete a community service requirement stemming from an aggravated assault charge. While in prison, Pimp C released a solo album The Sweet James Jones Stories.

In 2005 he was released on parole and in July 2006 he released his second solo album, “Pimpalation”. The single "I'm Free” was rated by Rolling Stone as one of the year's best and “Pimpalation” was certified Gold in March 2007.

Pimp C and Bun B earned their highest achievement as a duo this fall when their seventh album, UGK (Underground Kingz), debuted in the number one position on the album pop chart.

In October 2007, UGK won the Best Collaboration Award with Outkast for "International Players Anthem" at BET Hip Hop Awards.