Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman's mother Kareema Begum passed away in Chennai on Monday.

Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman’s mother Kareema Begum passed away in Chennai on Monday, reports say.

The music maestro, on Monday afternoon, shared a photograph of his mother on his Twitter profile without a caption.

Reacting to his tweet, his friends from the film and music industry offered their condolences to the music genius.

The music icon was raised by his mother after his father and music composer RO Sekhar died when he was only nine years old.

In many interviews, the Mozart of Madras had expressed that it was his mother who first recognised and nurtured his musical gifts.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK President M K Stalin also paid tributes to Kareema Begum on Twitter.

Director Mohan Raja, producer Dr Dhananjayan, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, music composers Shreya Ghoshal, Thaman, singer Harshdeep Kaur and many others expressed grief on social media.