What happened to Voletta Wallace? The Notorious B.I.G.'s mother passes away at 78

Late rapper The Notorious B.I.G.’s mother, Voletta Wallace, 78, recently passed away on February 21, 2025. The news was first announced by TMZ, saying that Wallace’s death was confirmed by the Monroe County Coroner, Thomas Yanac.

While speaking to Billboard, Yanac shared a few more details by saying that she died of natural causes and was on hospice care at her Pennsylvania-based residence. Voletta’s son was a popular face in the music industry for a long time and he was shot dead in 1997, as per NBC News.

Meanwhile, a statement was shared by Voletta Wallace’s family through her Facebook page, saying that she did everything to preserve her son’s legacy over the years. The caption also mentioned that they will soon reveal more details on how people can honor Voletta.

They also expressed gratitude to everyone for the love and support alongside the prayer and condolences and additionally requested people to respect their privacy while they process the loss they have suffered.

While Voletta Wallace’s health history is not available, she opened up on her battle with breast cancer at the time of The Notorious B.I.G.’s death while appearing for an interview with NPR back in October 2005. Wallace explained by saying:

“I had my first mastectomy, ’93. And I just had my second mastectomy two and a half years ago. As far as breast cancer is concerned, all I can encourage young ones to do is be educated and do very, very regular examinations.”

Wallace also stated that if an individual avoids getting tested, it might lead to death and that things would be fine if a person is well aware of what is happening with his or her body.

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Voletta Wallace shared different social media posts related to The Notorious B.I.G.’s achievements

A report by the Daily Mail stated that Voletta was operating her son’s estate worth $160 million after his death. Apart from The Notorious B.I.G., Wallace also had another child. However, Voletta had to take care of her children alone since her husband left the family when B.I.G. was around two years old.

As mentioned, Voletta Wallace was working to preserve her son’s legacy on different occasions, including the time when a street was named after him in 2019.

She also produced a biopic titled Notorious, where Jamal Woolard appeared as B.I.G. In an interview with Cinemablend in January 2009, Wallace praised how the latter played her son's role on screen.

“The first day I saw Jamal in person, I was in a corner [in the audition room] and I whispered ‘That’s my son, there.’ He walked in with a voice like Christopher. And I had goosebumps just looking at him. He’s so appreciative, he’s so humble. He thanked me for me giving him the chance.”

Back in December last year, Voletta Wallace shared an Instagram post with a photo that featured the number of listeners and other figures recorded by B.I.G. on Spotify. In September 2024, Wallace celebrated B.I.G.’s single Big Poppa touching the mark of 1 billion streams with another social media post.

According to Billboard, Voletta also started a memorial foundation in her son’s memory. B.I.G. also shared a close relationship with Wallace during the ‘90s when he was struggling with his drug addiction.

Voletta Wallace’s Instagram bio also states that she is protecting the legacy of her son and describes herself as a “Grandmother, Avid Gardener and a faithful servant of God.” She was active on the platform with almost 130,000 followers.