The Notorious B.I.G.'s Mother, Voletta Wallace, Dead at 72

She passed away on Friday, Feb. 21, in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

February 21, 2025
Mother of Biggie Smalls, Voletta Wallace attends the Lincoln Center orchestral tribute to Notorious B.I.G at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on June 10, 2022 in New York City.
Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images

The Notorious B.I.G.'s mother Voletta Wallace has died at age 72.

As reported by TMZ, the legendary rapper's mother's death was confirmed by Monroe County Coroner Thomass Yanac. She passed away in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania—where she was receiving hospice care—on Friday, Feb. 21. The cause of death was listed as natural causes. Wallace was one of the people in charge of Biggie's estate after he was murdered in March 1997.

Following the rapper's death, she helped celebrate his achievements and even produced the 2021 Netflix about his career, Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell. She even made an appearance on his 1999 posthumous record, Born Again. At the time of his passing, his estate was estimated to me worth around $10 million, but it has since reached as high as $160 million.

In 2020, she and Biggie's children, Tyanna Wallace and C.J. Wallace, honored the late rapper when he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. "As a mother, of course, I'm very very happy about it," she told The Breakfast Club of the honor. "I'm thrilled, I'm only sorry he's not here. ... Most of these honors are going to people who are not here. But I'm sure he would be thrilled."

RIP.