Who are Megan Thee Stallion’s parents, and how did losing them shape her life? In a new Prime Video docu, the rapper talks about her mum’s death from cancer … and how her dad did jail time
Her mum was a bill collector, an underground rapper called ‘Holly-Wood’, and later her manager, while her father was in jail until she was eight – but became her best friend
Reflecting on the moment when she decided to pull her mum off life support, Megan, 29, reveals, “They had to put her under. She was just brain-dead … I just was praying that she could shake back from it.” But reality hit, and Megan recalls, “Once I realised she wasn’t coming back, I was just like, ‘Damn, I can’t keep her like this.’” Her mum “passed the next day”.
Megan honoured her mother’s lasting influence at the 2021 Glamour Woman of the Year Awards, saying, “I really want to thank my mum … She taught me how to be the woman that I am. She was my best friend, my manager, she was my everything, and I know she’s proud of me today.” Megan’s loss of her mother compounded a previous tragedy – losing her father, Joseph Pete Jr, in ninth grade.
But who were Megan Thee Stallion’s parents? Here’s everything we know about Holly Thomas and Joseph Pete Jr.
Megan Thee Stallion’s dad, Joseph Pete Jr, was in jail until she was eight
In a 2020 Rolling Stone interview, Megan called her dad a “full-time hustler” and said he worked hard, even if he wasn’t always around. That same year, she told Marie Claire, “My dad was definitely my best friend, but for the first eight years of my life, he was in jail.” Once he was released, everything changed, and they “were together every day”, showing just how close they became. Pete died when Megan was just 15.
Megan Thee Stallion’s mum, Holly Thomas, was an underground rapper
Megan’s mother, Holly Thomas, balanced life as a bill collector by day and underground rapper “Holly-Wood” by night, per People. Megan absorbed her mom’s musical influence, often sneaking Thomas’ CDs to practice rapping. “She would be like, ‘Megan, have you seen my CDs?’ And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? No,’” Megan admitted to Vulture in 2019.