Voletta Wallace, mother of Notorious B.I.G., dead at 72

Voletta Wallace, the mother of hip-hop legend Notorious B.I.G., is dead at 72.

According to TMZ, the first to report the news from a county coroner in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Wallace was in hospice care and died of natural causes.

Since her famous rapper son, real name Christopher Wallace, was fatally shot in 1997, Voletta dedicated her life to carrying on her son’s legacy and solving his unsolved murder. She was also hands-on in overseeing and growing his estate, which was estimated to be worth around $10 million around the time of his death and has since grown to be worth roughly $160 million.

In 2020, Voletta celebrated her son’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “Today, I’m feeling great,” she told Billboard at the time.

“As a mother, I’m extremely proud of his accomplishments. You know, I still see such a young man at a young age, and sadly, he’s not here to witness all this. But it’s an astute honor, and as a mother, I’m just elated for that.”

“Many of [his songs] speak truth,” she continued of Biggie. “It might be gritty, and maybe the language is so out there, but he was honest. There was nothing fake about what he was doing. I think for such a young man to resonate such honesty in his lyrics is awesome.”

Angela Bassett immortalized the mother in the 2009 film about her son, “Notorious,” in which she also served as a producer.