Voletta Wallace has died at the age of 78.

The retired teacher was best known as the mother of late rapper Notorious B.I.G. - who was shot dead in 1997 at the age of 24 - but passed away herself of "natural causes" at her home in at her home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, a representative confirmed to AP.

Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac added that she died on Friday (21.02.25), and her death came after a stint in hospice care.

The case of her son's murder remains unsolved, and Voletta revealed on the 20th anniversary of his death in 2017 that he had tried to stop her from listening to his music but she eventually decided that she "had to" in the end.

She said: "I remembered my son said, 'Don't listen to my music.' And I never listened to his music. I heard it on the radio and it sounded good, because it was clean. But I said, 'You know what, I have to. I have to listen to that music.' And that's what I did.".

"I cried so much that day just listening to the music. I remember I sat, I stood. I rested my head on the stereo and I just cried like a baby. And that was therapy for me. And I said, 'Oh my God -- that was a talented young man to put those words together.' He had a beautiful voice. I love his voice."

Notorious B.I.G. - whose real name was Christopher George Latore Wallace - achieved hits with tracks such as 'Juicy' and 'Big Poppa' before his untimely death.

Following her son's death, she launched the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation in his memory, and through it, aimed to provide educational resources for children.