Voletta Wallace, the mother of legendary rapper The Notorious B.I.G., has died in Stroudsburg. She was 78. Her death Friday morning was confirmed Friday by Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac. She died from natural causes in her residence while on hospice care, Yanac said.

The Notorious B.I.G., one of rap's greatest performers, was shot to death at age 24 in Los Angeles in 1997. The case remains unsolved. He was survived by his wife, the musician and actress Faith Evans, and his two children, Christopher Jordan Wallace and T'yanna Dream Wallace.

Voletta Wallace, the mother of late rapper Biggie Smalls, is dead at 78. Wallace, who raised her son Christopher Wallace in Brooklyn, died of natural causes Friday in Stroudsburg, Penn., according to the Monroe County Coroner Thomas A. Yanac. She was in hospice care.