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"Andre &amp;quot;3000&amp;quot; Benjamin&amp;apos;s mother passed away in her sleep on Tuesday, May 28,  just one day after the hip-hop star&amp;apos;s 38th birthday. The Outkast rapper&amp;apos;s fans and famous friends in the music community came forward with an outpouring of love and support on Twitter immediately following the news of Sharon Benjamin-Hodo&amp;apos;s death.\r\n&amp;quot;Prayers for Andre 3000,&amp;quot; Russell Simmons tweeted one day later.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;My condolences go out to Dre, and the entire Benjamin-Hodo family,&amp;quot; Jermaine Dupri wrote.\r\nAccording to The Associated Press, Benjamin-Hodo passed away in her sleep at her home in Rex, Ga. at the age of 58. No other details were provided.\r\nBenjamin&amp;apos;s mother, affectionately known as &amp;quot;Ma Benjamin, Ms. B, and Nana,&amp;quot; was considered a crucial part of launching Outkast into the music scene in the early 90s (Benjamin is one-half of the fun-loving rap duo, along with Antwan &amp;quot;Big Boi&amp;quot; Patton), serving as their manager early on.\r\n\r\nA spokesperson for the family confirmed to Billboard that in lieu of flowers, the family is asking for support for The Starlight Camp foundation, Benjamin-Hodo&amp;apos;s program for underprivileged children, instead.\r\nBenjamin-Hodo is survived by her husband, Robert Hodo, a pastor at the New Morning Light Missionary Baptist Church in Conley, Ga.\r\n\r\nBenjamin -- who paid tribute to his mother in the 2003 track &amp;quot;She&amp;apos;s Alive&amp;quot; -- will next play Jimi Hendrix in the biopic All Is by My Side, set to be released later this year."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/andre-3000s-mother-dies-one-day-after-outkast-rappers-birthday-2013305>