Today marks 20 years since the tragic death of Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G.
- Biggie was shot four times by an unknown gunman while sitting at a traffic light in Los Angeles. His entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai for an emergency thoracotomy, but doctor’s were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m.
- 16 days after his death, Biggie’s double-disc second album was released and made it to number-one on the charts, eventually being certified Diamond.
- Though the attack is believed to be gang-related, the case is still unsolved.
- Biggie’s death came six months after that of his West Coast rival, Tupac Shakur.
- There were over 350 mourners at Biggie’s funeral, including Queen Latifah, Flavor Flav, Mary J. Blige, Lil’ Kim, Lil’ Cease, Run-D.M.C., DJ Kool Herc, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa, Foxy Brown and more.
- The story of Big’s life and death are told in the 2009 bio-pic Notorious.
Two decades after his death, Christopher Wallace continues to be relevant. This year, Biggie’s ex-wife Faith Evans plans to release an album of duets called The King and I. USA Network is also working on a new series called Unsolved investigating the murders of Biggie and Tupac.
Source: Radio One / Don Juan Fasho
