Voletta Wallace, The Notorious B.I.G.’s mom, dead at 78
She’s reunited with her son again.
The Notorious B.I.G.’s mom, Voletta Wallace, has died at age 78.
Wallace passed away on Friday morning at home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, the Monroe County Coroner, Thomas Yanac, confirmed to The Post.
B.I.G.’s mom spent her final days in hospice care, with the coroner revealing she died of natural causes.
TMZ was the first to report the news.
Wallace was a legend in her own right in the hip-hop community, raising B.I.G. (real name Christopher Wallace) as a single mother in Brooklyn after his father walked out on the family in 1974.
She was a Jamaican immigrant and worked as a school teacher.
B.I.G. was murdered on March 9, 1997, after leaving a Soul Train Awards afterparty. He was shot dead in a drive-by while sitting in a green Chevy Suburban, which was parked on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Six months earlier, B.I.G.’s rival Tupac Shakur had been killed, adding fuel to the already nasty East Coast-West Coast rap beef.
B.I.G. (also known as Biggie Smalls) was Sean “Diddy” Combs’ protégé, with many believing the mogul was somehow involved in Tupac’s murder; however, he died any involvement and was never charged in connection with the investigation.
Former Los Angeles gang leader Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis was arrested in 2023 and charged with first-degree murder for Tupac’s death. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting his trial, which was scheduled to start next month but was recently postponed to February 2026, according to Rolling Stone.
While prosecutors are closing in on Tupac’s alleged killer, no one has been charged with B.I.G.’s death, and his case is still unsolved.
Following their children’s tragic murders, Wallace and Tupac’s mom, Afeni Shakur, showed solidarity at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.
Both women took the stage and embraced in front of the world and music’s biggest names.
Will Smith kicked things off with this hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand” before telling the crowd, “I’d like to introduce to you two parents who definitely seem to understand.”
Tupac’s mother addressed the audience first.
“In keeping with both our sons’ memories and contributions to the arts, we stand united as mothers preserving their legacies,” Shakur said.
Wallace added, “The fact that we are even standing here shows what the power of faith, friends, family, loved ones and fans can do to bring us all closer…”
In 2017, Wallace spoke to The Post about her son’s death and touched on the fact that his killer hadn’t been caught.
“It still hurts that nothing has been done,” she shared at the time.
B.I.G.’s mom was instrumental in keeping his legacy alive. She managed his estate and ballooned it to an estimated $160 million, but she also made sure her son’s only child, his daughter T’yanna Wallace, was cared for.
This is a developing story…
