Kanye West Closes Out 2011 Coachella Festival With Three-Act Set Dedicated To His Mom

Kanye West headlined the 2011 Coachella Festival's final evening on Sunday (April 17), closing out the three-day event in Indio, Calif. ... and he did it all by his lonesome.

With only the aid from Bon Iver's Justin Vernon as backup vocals and the Clipse's Pusha-T during "Runaway," the Chicago rap superstar performed his set without usual assists from his A-list collaborators, some of whom were spotted at Coachella throughout the weekend.

West opened things with the instrumental to "H.A.M.," backed by dancers dressed as phoenixes, before running through a single-heavy set of some of the rapper/producers biggest hits -- including "Love Lockdown," "Heartless", "Swagga Like Us," "Power", and even his verse on Katy Perry's "E.T. (Remix)."

His set was broken up into three acts. The first included several songs from his latest Dark Twisted Fantasy album, the second included tracks from 808s & Heartbreak, and his earlier hits like "Through The Wire", "All Falls Down" and "Gold Digger", before leaving the stage for Act 3.

After making a wardrobe change to his signature red suit, West returned to perform "Runaway" alongside Pusha-T with ballerinas joining them on stage, then "Lost In The World," before ending with one more track to close things out. But, he took a brief second to address the audience and explain his choice of song.

"When I made that album, I was in a very dark place in my life -- losing everything that was important to me," Kanye West. 808s & Heartbreak came in November 2008, one year after his mother unexpectedly passed away from a freak plastic surgery-related incident while Kanye was in London.

"And when I was making my last album [My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy] I kept saying I can't wait to perform 'Power' at Coachella ..." The crowd screamed in approval. "So this is the most important festival to me since my mama passed.

"There were times that I thought about not being here...," he said pausing before 'Heartless,' "but you make it all worth it," he concluded.

From there, West begin "Hey Mama."

"This show is dedicated to you mama!" Kanye echoed into the desert sky.