Remembering Voletta Wallace: The Mother of The Notorious B.I.G.
Voletta Wallace, the beloved mother of rap icon The Notorious B.I.G., has passed away at the age of 78. The sad news was confirmed by the Monroe County Coroner’s Office in Pennsylvania on Friday (Feb. 21).
According to Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac, Voletta Wallace passed away in her residence in Stroudsburg, Penn., while under hospice care. Her death was attributed to natural causes.
The news of Wallace’s passing was initially reported by TMZ and later confirmed by a representative of The Notorious B.I.G.’s estate.
Originally hailing from Jamaica, Wallace immigrated to the United States where she gave birth to Christopher Wallace, who would later become known as The Notorious B.I.G., on May 21, 1972, in Brooklyn. She worked as a preschool teacher and raised her son as a single mother.
The Notorious B.I.G. rose to fame in the 1990s as a prominent figure in East Coast hip-hop, signing with Diddy’s Bad Boy Records. His debut album, ‘Ready to Die,’ catapulted him to stardom, and his follow-up, ‘Life After Death,’ debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Tragically, he was shot and killed in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, at the young age of 24, just weeks after the album’s release.
The music of The Notorious B.I.G. remains a cornerstone of hip-hop’s golden era, with timeless hits like “Juicy,” “Hypnotize,” “Ten Crack Commandments,” “Going Back to Cali,” and “Mo Money Mo Problems.”
Following her son’s untimely death, Wallace dedicated herself to preserving his legacy. She established the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation and actively managed his estate. She also served as a producer on the 2009 biopic ‘Notorious,’ where she was portrayed by Angela Bassett.
In 2020, The Notorious B.I.G. was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Wallace proudly accepted the honor on his behalf. Reflecting on the moment, she expressed immense pride in her son’s achievements and legacy.
On her Instagram account in recent months, updates celebrating her son’s enduring impact on hip-hop were shared, highlighting his impressive streaming numbers on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Voletta Wallace is survived by her grandchildren, C.J. Wallace and T’yanna Wallace, the children of The Notorious B.I.G. Her legacy as a devoted mother and guardian of her son’s memory will forever be cherished in the world of music.
