Grammy-winning rap star Kanye West's mother, a former university professor, died in a Los Angeles-area hospital due to possible complications from surgery, the L.A. County Coroner's office said on Monday. She was 58. A coroner's spokesman said an autopsy would be performed later this week. He did not know what sort of surgery West underwent, but media reports said she had a breast reduction and abdominoplasty, a major procedure commonly referred to as a "tummy tuck."
Donda West raised her son in a middle-class Chicago suburb after splitting with her husband, a former Black Panther who went on to become a sociology professor.