Murder of The Notorious B.I.G.
The murder of rapper Christopher Wallace, known professionally as The Notorious B.I.G., shot in a Los Angeles drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997, six months after the killing of Tupac Shakur, remains formally unsolved, with a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging Los Angeles Police Department officer involvement having been dismissed amid findings of prosecutorial misconduct.
The murder of The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) on March 9, 1997, occurred six months after Tupac Shakur’s death and remains one of the most controversial unsolved cases in American music history. Wallace was shot in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles following a Soul Train Awards after-party, dying from his wounds shortly afterward.
The murder happened during the peak of the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry, leading to immediate speculation about connections to Tupac’s death and retaliatory violence. Wallace had been in Los Angeles to promote his upcoming album “Life After Death” and to help calm tensions between the rival rap factions.
Various theories have emerged about the perpetrators, including suggestions of involvement by gang members, corrupt police officers, music industry figures, or rivals within the hip hop community. Some investigations have focused on potential LAPD corruption and cover-up attempts, while others have examined possible connections to Death Row Records and Suge Knight.
Despite extensive investigations by the LAPD, FBI, and private investigators, the case remains officially unsolved. The Wallace family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, alleging police corruption and cover-up, though the case was ultimately dismissed. Like Tupac’s murder, the unsolved nature of Wallace’s death has generated persistent conspiracy theories and contributed to ongoing distrust between the hip hop community and law enforcement.
A related topic is Murder of Tupac Shakur.