Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

Donda West, the mother and onetime manager of rapper Kanye West, died Saturday in Los Angeles.

Her publicist, Patricia Green, told BBC News she passed away "as the result of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure," but gave no more details. West's spokesman said the family "asks for privacy during this time of grief."

West, 58, a retired professor and former chairwoman of the Chicago State University English department, was a tireless supporter of her son as he both earned success and stirred up controversy.

"Kanye likes to think as a hobby and speak his own mind. He was always like that," Donda West told InStyle earlier this year. "He came out of the womb looking like he had that attitude."

As CEO of West Brands LLC and co-founder of the Kanye West Foundation, she teamed with her son to develop a nonprofit that aimed to combat the dropout problem in high schools in 2005. In May, she released the book Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar.


Supportive Mother
Donda West raised her son as a single mother in the Chicago neighborhood of South Shore after divorcing his father Ray, a former Black Panther, when Kanye was 3.

The rapper paid tribute to her efforts in his song "Hey Mama," singing: "See you're unbreakable, unmistakable/ Highly capable, lady that's makin loot/ A livin' legend too, just look at what heaven do/ Send us an angel, and I thank you (Hey Mama)." The ode became the ring tone she played on her cell phone.

"She always gave me support," Kanye West said. "A lot of parents don't train their kids to think."

In June, Donda joined Kanye to celebrate his 30th birthday at the flagship Louis Vuitton store in Manhattan, where she danced onstage to "She Wants to Move" as her son chanted "Go Mom! Go Mom!" The next celebration she was looking forward to was his marriage.

Of Kanye's fiancé Alexis Phifer, she told PEOPLE: "The best thing that I love about her is that she loves my son. You can't beat that."

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

That's so sad

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

so sad

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

so sad

Message edited 11/12/2007 10:12:26 AM.

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

I feel so bad....so tragic.
Everyone knows there are risks as with any surgery, but you still never expect it. So sad

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

So sad

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

And that's why I will not get cosmetic surgery done, no matter how much I might want to some times.

It's just not worth the risk for vanity's sake.

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

Aw, that's sad!

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

So sad..... for Kanye

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

L.A. County Coroner Investigating West's Death

The L.A. County Coroner confirms to TMZ that they are investigating the death of Donda West due to possible complications from surgery.

They will be performing an autopsy this week.

We're also told West died at Centinela Hospital in Marina del Rey.


Evidence of When Kanye's Mom Died

Sources have confirmed to TMZ that Donda West, rapper Kanye West's mother, may have died either on the operating table or shortly after the procedure while in a recovery room.

Here's what we know: Sources tell us several months ago, West was scheduled for cosmetic surgery and she had been booked at Le Palais Chantique in Century City, a posh, hotel-like recovery center. We're told West postponed the surgery and therefore never showed up at Chantique.

There are two high-end recovery centers in L.A.; Chantique and Serenity in Santa Monica. TMZ has confirmed West was not taken to either facility this weekend.

If the fatal mishap was the result of a cosmetic surgery procedure, we're told the likelihood is that the complication arose either on the operating table or in the recovery room. The critical time things typically go wrong is the first two hours after the surgery.

Message edited 11/12/2007 2:21:47 PM.

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

so sad!

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

so sad, she was still a young woman.

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

So sad, no matter what the cause.

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

Donda West Warned About Surgery

TMZ has learned that just weeks before Donda West died, a plastic surgeon refused to perform procedures on her because of a health condition that could have led to a heart attack.

We've learned Dr. Andre Aboolian was set to perform a tummy tuck and breast reduction on Ms. West, but told her she need to get clearance from an internist whom Dr. Aboolian recommended. We're told West never went to that doctor, but subsequently had the procedures performed -- not by Dr. Aboolian.

Re: Kanye West's Mother, Donda, Dies

I bet the surgeon that ended up doing the surgrey had no idea that she was denied from another doc

I have seen it on Dr 90210- people lie to get what they want done

it's such a shame- but there was a reason why the other doctor didn't want to perforn the surgrey in the first place

so sad