Christopher Wallace, born May 21, 1972, became one of the greatest rappers of all time during his short career. Known as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls or Biggie, the Brooklyn rapper made a huge impact on the world of hip hop. On March 9, 1997, he was assassinated; gunned down in Los Angeles, Calif. at the young age of 24. Take a look back at Biggie Smalls' life and legacy.
Christopher Wallace began to rap after struggling with dealing drugs as a teen. Following his release from jail in 1991, he recorded a demo tape titled “Microphone Murderer” under the name of Biggie Smalls. The tape was picked up by the editor of The Source magazine, who later featured him in their Unsigned Hype column in 1992. He was later signed to Sean Combs’ record label Bad Boy Records and went on to guest star on singles and album cuts for the likes of Mary J. Blige and Heavy D.
Building on the strength of the smash summer single “Juicy,” Sean Combs’ Bad Boy imprint released Biggie’s critically lauded commercial hit debut LP, “Ready to Die,” in 1994. The highly influential album would go on to sell more than four million copies.
Tupac (c., with Biggie, l., and Redman) was somewhat of a mentor to the young B.I.G. in the early ’90s. Both were featured in a legendary live freestyle session during a 1995 Big Daddy Kane concert. The two later would become mortal enemies, the main event in a late ’90s coastal rap war.
“We did it Brooklyn! We did it!” Biggie wins Best New Artist, Lyricist of the Year, Live Performer of the Year and Album of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards. He goes on to garner the 1995 Billboard Music Awards for rap single and rap artist of the year.
Rapper Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls, is pictured with Junior Mafia outside his mother’s house in Brooklyn.
A true larger-than-life presence, Biggie stood 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed well over 300 pounds. He left an indelible mark on hip-hop culture through his lyrical dexterity and charming delivery. He’s pictured here performing in 1995 during his climb to fame.
Biggie often referred to himself as Frank White, Christopher Walken’s infamous gangster from “The King of New York.” “The Source” echoed Biggie’s bravado, proclaiming him New York’s rap rex on the July 1995 cover.
Biggie’s epic double LP, “Life After Death,” was one of the most eagerly anticipated records in the history of hip hop. Events that preceded its March 25, 1997 release date would also make “Life After Death” an ominous composition produced by a man who seemed to sense his demise was close at hand.
Christopher “Biggie” Wallace and Sean Combs attend the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards on Mar. 7, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Later that night, Biggie Smalls would be gunned down and killed.
On March 9, 1997, Biggie was shot several times in the upper body when a car pulled up next to the Chevy Suburban in which he was riding following a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and unloaded on the vehicle’s front passenger side. He was attending the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards and spent the night at the Vibe magazine after-party.
This image shows the five bullet holes that were fired at Biggie that night. Four bullets actually hit him and only one was fatal. Christopher Wallace was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at 1:15 a.m., six months after Tupac Shakur was killed.
The front page of the Daily News from March 10, 1997, read “Blown Away: Fear strikes rap world after gangsta star Biggie Smalls is shot dead.”
Mourners from all walks of life, including former New York City Mayor David Dinkins (above), came to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home to pay respects to the iconic son of the City.
Mary J. Blige (l.) lends a shoulder to the inconsolable Lil’ Kim outside the chapel following funeral services for Notorious B.I.G. on March 18, 1997.
Pallbearers wheel the casket containing rap star Biggie Smalls to a hearse after the funeral on Mar. 18, 1997, in New York. Smalls, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was killed on March 9 in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
As the hearse escorting Biggie slowly crept along St. James Place, his old stomping grounds in Bed-Stuy, the crowd of mourners shouted the legend’s name and some even recited lyrics in tribute to a man from Brooklyn who had touched so many lives.
The New York Daily News front page covered Biggie Smalls’ funeral on March 19, 1997.
Fellow rap legend Flava Flav leaves the funeral at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan. Other famous mourners at the funeral included Queen Latifah, Run-DMC, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa and Foxy Brown.
Queen Latifah, left, is consoled by an unidentified man following the funeral for rapper Notorious B.I.G at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in New York on March 18, 1997.
Biggie left behind (from l.) ex-wife Fath Evans, daughter T’Yanna, mother Voletta Wallace and son Christopher Jr.
“Born Again,” Biggie’s second posthumous album was released on Dec. 7, 1999. It included hit songs like “Dead Wrong,” “Who Shot Ya?” and “Notorious B.I.G.”
Posters for Rap Pages magazine with a cover shot of the late Notorius B.I.G. sprung up along with promotionals for the late rapper’s new and last CD. Following its release, record stores were selling them as fast as they got them in.
“Duets: The Final Chapter” was released in 2005 and was reportedly the last album that will feature previously unreleased Biggie vocals.
In 2007, Biggie was immortalized in wax at Madame Tussauds in New York City.
Biggie’s life also made the silver screen, in the January 2009 film “Notorious.” Brooklyn MC Jamal (Gravy) Woolard was chosen to play Wallace in the major release, directed by George Tillman Jr. The film grossed more than $44,000,000 worldwide.
T’yanna Wallace (right of sign), the daughter of Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., and her mother, Jan Jackson (left of sign), attended a ceremony dedicating the basketball courts at Crispus Attucks Playground for Christopher “Biggie” Wallace, on Aug. 2, 2017 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The crowd cheers at the Notorious B.I.G. street naming in Brooklyn, New York on June 10, 2019.
Christopher ‘CJ’ Wallace and Voletta Wallace attend the Notorious B.I.G. street naming in Brooklyn, New York on June 10, 2019.
Saint James Place in Brooklyn, New York has been officially coined Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace Way, honoring the late rapper who grew up nearby.
Robert E. Cornegy Jr. attends the Notorious B.I.G. street naming in Brooklyn, New York on June 10, 2019.
