{"id":1235907561,"date":"2025-02-21T13:19:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T18:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/?p=1235907561"},"modified":"2025-02-21T17:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T22:46:08","slug":"biggies-mom-voletta-wallace-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rb-hip-hop\/biggies-mom-voletta-wallace-dead-1235907561\/","title":{"rendered":"Voletta Wallace, The Notorious B.I.G.’s Mom, Dead at 78"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\tVoletta Wallace<\/a>, mother to rap icon The Notorious B.I.G.<\/a>, is dead at 78. Billboard<\/em> confirmed Wallace’s death with Monroe County Coroner’s Office in Pennsylvania on Friday (Feb. 21). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Notorious\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Notorious B.I.G.’s Family Talks Managing His Life After Death\t\t\n\t\n<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n
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\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tMorgan Wallen 'Now' Has Another Record on Billboard's Country Airplay Chart\t\t\n\t\n<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Aaron\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tAaron Frazer Doubles Down on Soul with New 'Corners' EP: 'Simple Things Can Be Elegant'\t\t\n\t\n<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\nTMZ<\/a> <\/em>was the first to report that Wallace had passed away. A rep for The Notorious B.I.G.’s estate also confirmed Wallace’s passing early Friday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tA Jamaican immigrant, Wallace gave birth to The Notorious B.I.G. (born Christopher Wallace) on May 21, 1972, in Brooklyn, where she worked as a preschool teacher and raised Biggie as a single mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tHe went on to reach superstar status in a short time as a rapper while signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records, where he released a pair of albums, Ready to Die<\/em> and Life After Death<\/em>, the latter of which debuted atop the Billboard 200<\/a> and arrived just weeks after he was gunned down in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, at just 24 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tMuch of the the Brooklyn rap icon’s catalog is etched in rap lore as one of the pillars of East Coast hip-hop during the ’90s “golden era,” including hits such as “Juicy,” “Hypnotize,” “Ten Crack Commandments,” “Going Back to Cali,” “Mo Money Mo Problems” and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tWallace launched the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation in her son’s memory and did whatever she could to uphold his legacy and protect his estate while building on the foundation he laid prior to his passing in 1997. She also served as a producer on the Notorious<\/em> biopic, which brought her son’s life story to the silver screen in 2009. She was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tThe Notorious B.I.G. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020, and Voletta was present to accept the honor in her son’s place. “Today, I\u2019m feeling great,” she told Billboard<\/a><\/em> at the time. “As a mother, I\u2019m extremely proud of his accomplishments. You know, I still see such a young man at a young age, and sadly, he\u2019s not here to witness all this. But it\u2019s an astute honor, and as a mother, I\u2019m just elated for that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Biggie\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tVoletta Wallace Celebrates Biggie’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction: ‘As a Mother, I’m Extremely Proud’\t\t\n\t\n<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\nWallace’s Instagram account<\/a> made posts celebrating her son’s rap achievements, which included 992 million Spotify streams in 2024 and eclipsing 2.5 billion all-time streams on Apple Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tVoletta Wallace is survived by her grandchildren C.J. Wallace and T’yanna Wallace, who are Biggie’s kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The matriarch of the Wallace family passed away from natural causes. 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