Voletta Wallace, the devoted mother of one of Hip-hop’s greatest lyricists, The Notorious B.I.G., has passed away at the age of 78. She died in the early hours of Friday at her home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, according to authorities in Monroe County.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Voletta Wallace played a crucial role in preserving her son’s legacy, despite initially being critical of his music, at one point even referring to it as “noise.” After her son’s untimely death, she founded the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational resources for children in honor of her late son.
In 2003, Wallace honored the mothers of other iconic musicians who died prematurely, including Aaliyah, Tupac Shakur, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and others, at a benefit event called “B.I.G. Night Out” for the foundation.
She also sought justice for her son by taking legal action. In 2004, she dropped a wrongful-death lawsuit against a former suspect in Biggie’s murder, Amir Muhammad (also known as Harry Billups).
Despite his tragic passing, The Notorious B.I.G. remains an influential figure in music, with posthumous album sales in the U.S. exceeding 28 million, including 21 million albums sold. Rolling Stone named him the “greatest rapper that ever lived”, and in 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
