  Wray 977, the B supergiant companion of the X-ray pulsar GX301-2, should be
classified as B1~Ia+, based on a comparison of its optical spectrum to that of
zeta1 Sco, a well-known B hypergiant and ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS IN THE
GALAXY. The classification of Wray 977 as a hypergiant results in a new
distance determination of the binary system, i.e. 5.3 kpc (previously 1.8 +/-
0.4 kpc). The ``average'' X-ray luminosity of the pulsar is then ~10^37 erg/s,
in good agreement with the predicted X-ray luminosity resulting from accretion
of a dense, low-velocity (v_infty = 400 km/s) stellar wind. A mass-loss rate of
<= 10^-5 M_sun/yr is estimated from the Halpha profile. A new upper limit for
the inclination of the system is derived which provides a lower limit to the
(present) mass of Wray 977 (48 M_sun). Regarding current binary evolution
scenarios, the empirical lower mass limit for BLACK-HOLE formation in a binary
increases to M_zams >= 50 M_sun.
