Notorious B.I.G.’s Mother Voletta Wallace Dies at 72

Voletta Wallace, the mother of Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G., has died after entering hospice care at her home in Pennsylvania. According to Variety, she was 78.

Wallace is likely best known for her actions following the tragic shooting death of her son, maintaining his estate and celebrating his life. Famously, she took the stage with Tupac Shakur’s mother at the 1999 VMAs, two years after her first major public appearance at the 1997 VMAs to accept her son’s Best Rap Video award for “Hypnotize.” It was six months after his murder.

“Thank you. I know if my son was here tonight, the first thing he would have done is say… big up to Brooklyn,” she said during her speech. She also wrote a memoir in 2005 on her relationship with her son and the legacy he has left behind.

“He has touched so many people and so many people loved him and, you know, still do,” Wallace said. “That cannot take my pain away. What I am feeling inside is like a 100-pound lead weighing down in my chest. It’s very cold and it’s very heavy and I am so dying to get rid of it. But it’s not something you can get rid of, because that was my son. He was my baby. I am a mother and I will always be a mother.

She continued to carry her son’s memory, serving as a producer on the biopic Notorious, noting it was difficult to see and made her angry at the time. “I learned a lot… about my son — a lot that I never knew. But I still love him because he was from here [gestures to heart],” she said in an interview with CinemaBlend.

Wallace last appeared with her grandchildren, Lil’ Kim and Lil’ Cease as part of an event to honor the late rapper on his 50th birthday. In honor, the lights of the Empire State Building were changed to red and white and a special Metrocard was released with his image on it.