Patti LaBelle Added To Tribute For Mothers Of Aaliyah, Shakur, Big Pun, Lopes & Others

03/10/2003 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Anna Maria Gibson

(3/10/03, 5 p.m. ET) -- Patti LaBelle has been added to the lineup of performers at a tribute to the mothers of Jam Master Jay, Tupac Shakur, Aaliyah, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and other artists who met with untimely deaths. The special women will honored at the third annual B.I.G. Night Out, a gala that will mark the sixth anniversary of the death of rapper Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace), on Tuesday (March 11).

The mothers of the late Big Pun, Freaky Tah, and Big L will also be saluted, with all the honorees receiving the B.I.G. Heart Award. Wallace's former wife, singer Faith Evans, will also provide entertainment, and radio personalities Ed Lover and Dr. Dre will serve as the evening's hosts.

In addition to the B.I.G. Heart Award, New York City Council member Yvette D. Clarke will honor the mothers with official proclamations as part of her Women's History Month initiative.

The event is sponsored by the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation, an organization established in the name and memory of the Notorious B.I.G, whose March 9, 1997 murder remains unsolved. The nonprofit group was formed by his mom, Voletta Wallace, and it provides books and technology resources for youth.

Mrs. Wallace has said Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, will not be able to attend due to a scheduling conflict, but that she would send a someone to accept the award in her honor. In addition, Big Pun's mother, Gail Tirado, is reportedly too sick to make it to the gala but all other honorees are expected to attend.

Hip-hop's Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Run-D.M.C., Damon Dash, and Jay-Z, as well as WBLS-FM on air personality Wendy Williams and BET's Free, are also scheduled to attend the event at Manhattan's Metropolitan Pavilion.

-- Anna Maria Gibson, New York

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