Pitchfork

Dr. Donda West, mother of Kanye and an educator, author, and businesswoman, died Saturday night, November 10, in Los Angeles, according to an AP report. She was 58 years old.

A BBC report quotes Dr. West's publicist as saying her death was "the result of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure."

Dr. West was the former chairwoman of the English department at Chicago State University, where she had worked since 1980, according to the AP report.

In 2004, she left academia to help manage Kanye's career. She was the chief executive of West Brands LLC, the company that handles Kanye's various business ventures, and she also served as the chairwoman of the board for education-oriented nonprofit the Kanye West Foundation, where she helped her son create its first initiative, "Loop Dreams".

On a more personal note, Dr. West raised Kanye herself after his father left when he was three years old, according to the AP report. Earlier this year, she published a book titled Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip-Hop Star. The two Wests' relationship was also touchingly documented in Kanye's "Hey Mama", a song from 2005's Late Registration.

According to the BBC, "West's spokesman said the family 'asks for privacy during this time of grief.'"

Kanye has a run of shows scheduled to begin November 17 in Paris; no word yet on whether or not they are canceled.

Dates:

11-17 Paris, France - Zenith
11-18 Brussels, Belgium - Forest National
11-19 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Heineken Music Hall
11-22 London, England - O2 Arena
11-24 Brighton, England - Brighton Centre
11-25 Bournemouth, England - Bournemouth International Conference Center
11-26 Nottingham, England - Nottingham
11-27 Cardiff, Wales - Cardiff International Arena
11-28 Plymouth, England - Plymouth Pavilions
11-30 Dublin, Ireland - Phoenix Park
12-01 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Odyssey Arena
12-02 Manchester, England - M.E.N. Arena
12-04 Glasgow, Scotland - SECC
12-31 Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl at The Palms