LOS ANGELES • Rapper Kanye West was taken to a hospital in Los Angeles after his doctor called emergency services to report he was suffering a mental breakdown, reports said on Tuesday.

Personal physician Michael Farzam told the police that his 39-yearold patient was "acting erratically" due to sleep deprivation and dehydration and that he was concerned about his well-being, celebrity gossip website TMZ.com said.

West was taken from his personal trainer's home to UCLA Medical Center handcuffed to a gurney, as is standard procedure for psychiatric patients, TMZ.com said.

His health scare took place after he abruptly cancelled the remaining 21 dates of his Saint Pablo Tour on Monday, following a rambling onstage tirade last Saturday against fellow artists Jay Z and Beyonce.

His wife, reality television queen Kim Kardashian, had been expected to make her first public appearance since being robbed at gunpoint in Paris in October.

But she pulled out of the event in New York on Monday to tend to her husband as her sisters Kourtney and Khloe picked up an honour for their late father, attorney Robert Kardashian.

A source close to West told People magazine on Tuesday that the singer was dealing with exhaustion as well as a wider spiritual crisis.

"He feels like he's under spiritual attack and has been for a while," the source told People.

"Sometimes, darkness creeps in and Kanye wrestles against it. He talks about that a lot. It's exhausting and it takes everything he's got. He's just so tired now; he has very low energy and feels like there's a grieving in his spirit. It's very hard to explain, but something has happened recently, where he's not the 'Ye that everyone knows," the source added. 'Ye is a nickname for West.

Several celebrities came out in support of West on Tuesday, with singer John Legend saying he could tell the father of two was not doing well when he saw him recently.

"We were with Kim actually, you know, right before all of that," he told American television, referring to West's hospitalisation. "I was concerned by what I saw, so hopefully he's getting some rest and time to figure things out."

He did not elaborate on West's condition.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS