Talented hip hop star Kanye West has lost his mother and manager, Donda West. Dr. West died in an LA hospital at just 58, and Kanye was in London and flew immediately to LA when he heard the sad news.

Dr. West was an accomplished educator and helped her son establish his career. Before resigning her position in 2004 to work full time for her son, she was the chairman of the English department at Chicago State University. She served as CEO of Kanye’s company, Super Good, and also ran his foundation, which aims to keep at-risk students in school through involvement in the arts.

Kanye was raised by his mother in Chicago after his parents divorced when he was three. Kanye’s mom wrote a book about her life experiences and about raising her son as a single mother. It is called Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar and was published in May of this year.

The cause of Dr. West’s death is unknown at this time. There is speculation that it was the result of complications from plastic surgery, but that cannot be confirmed and the family has asked for privacy.

Here’s Kanye’s song Hey Mama, a song in tribute to his mother. The lyrics are touching and talk about how he’s going to make life easy for a hard working mother that inspired him and gave everything to him.

That’s incredibly sad and our thoughts go out to Kanye at this difficult time. My parents are a little older than that and I can’t imagine losing them so young. RIP Donda.

Here are some lyrics from Hey Mama:

I said mommy Imma love you till you don’t hurt no more
And when I’m older, you aint gotta work no more
And Imma get you that mansion that we couldn’t afford
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)

[From lyrics707.com]

Update: Britain’s Sun reports that “Her publicist Patricia Green said she passed away ‘as the result of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure.'” That’s terrible, and you never realize how serious cosmetic surgery can be.

Kanye and his mother are shown at his 30th birthday party on 6/7/07, thanks to PRPhotos. Story details from The Chicago Sun Times.