AceShowbiz -

Our prayers and thoughts go out to our beloved rap star Kanye West. His mother, Dr. Donda West, who worked as the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as his manager, has passed away. Hot 97's Miss Info was the first to bring the report to the surface.

Miss Info quoted its sources as saying that Donda West passed away in Los Angeles on Saturday night November 10th. She was 58. A cause of death has not been released.

It was an unfortunate though that Kanye was in London at the time he received the bad news and is currently on his way back to the United States.

It's obvious to the world how close Kanye to her mother. She was known for the strong bond she shared with her son, and was often at his side at parties and awards shows. She raised Kanye alone after her husband left the family when the star was still 3.

Donda, moreover, has also become the inspiration for the song, "Hey Mama," on Kanye's 2005 album "Late Registration," which among others read "Hey Mama, I wanna scream so loud for you, cuz I'm so proud of you."

A noted scholar and an active college professor for 31 years, Donda herself left the profession in 2004 to assist with Kanye's career. According to Essence, Kanye's mom was the CEO of West Brands, LLC at the time of her death. She was also Chair of the Kanye West Foundation and recently released a book about Kanye called "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From The Mother Of A Hip-Hop Superstar."