An early live performance “Hey Mama" took place in West's hometown of Chicago at the conclusion of a concert with Dilated Peoples held in the House of Blues on May 5, 2004. West included "Hey Mama" within the setlist of his "Touch the Sky Tour" that occurred in late 2005. On November 17, 2007 at Le Zenith in Paris, France, during his first public performance since his mother's death a week before, West broke down into tears while attempting to perform the song. After his mother's death, West would perform a live rendition of the song as a tribute to her, most notably during all of his concerts on his Glow in the Dark tour that ran from 2007 to 2008 in promotion for his third studio album "Graduation" (2007). In the concert, West followed the performance up by dedicating a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' to her. He performed "Hey Mama" as a tribute at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards for his mother in a black jacket. West ended his set at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival by performing the song. On the opening show of The Yeezus Tour at the KeyArena in Seattle, the song was performed live by West. On May 12, 2019, Kanye performed the song in tribute to Donda West on Mother's Day at a concert of his gospel group the Sunday Service Choir of the same genre. Kanye West opened the concert by walking out to fellow rapper 2Pac's single "Dear Mama", before delivering a gospel rendition of "Hey Mama". The performance was live streamed through the same fisheye perspective as West's Coachella Music Festival appearance in April 2019, while the rapper closed his eyes as he performed.