Faith Evans

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress.

Evans was born on June 10, 1973, in Lakeland, Florida, to an African American mother, Helene Evans, a professional singer.

Her father, Richard Swain, was a musician of English and possible Italian descent who left before Evans was born; Evans has said "I've heard people mumble something about him being Italian, but I don't know for sure".

A half-year later, 19-year-old Helene returned to Newark, New Jersey, and left Faith with her cousin Johnnie Mae and husband Orvelt Kennedy, the foster parents of more than 100 children they raised during the time that Faith lived with them.

Faith had known Johnnie Mae and Orvelt Kennedy as her grandparents.

It was not until a couple of years later that Helene's career floundered and she tried to take Evans back home.

Faith, however, was afraid to leave what she had "been used to," and instead, Helene relocated next door.

Raised in a Christian home, Evans began singing at church at age two.

At age four, she caught the attention of the congregation of the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Newark when she sang The 5th Dimension's song "Let the Sunshine In".

While attending University High School in Newark, she sang with several jazz bands and, encouraged by Helene, entered outside pageants, festivals and contests, where her voice would be noticed and praised.

Born in Lakeland, Florida and raised in Plainfield, New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career.

After graduating from high school in 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but left a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin.

In 1993, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked as a backup vocalist for singer Al B. Sure!, when she was noticed by musician Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs.

She first performed as a backing vocalist for R&B singers Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams, and by the age of 20, she signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records as the label's first female artist in 1994.

Outside of recording, Evans is known as the widow of rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married on August 4, 1994, after meeting the rapper at a Bad Boy photoshoot.

Impressed with her, Combs contracted her as the first female artist to his Bad Boy Entertainment record label during 1994.

Newly contracted to Bad Boy Records, Evans was asked by executive producer Combs to contribute backing vocals and co-write tracks for Mary J. Blige's My Life (1994) and Usher's self-titled debut album (1994) prior to starting work on her debut studio album Faith.

A year before, on August 4, 1994, Evans married rapper and label mate Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, after having met him at a Bad Boy photoshoot.

The couple had one child together, Christopher George Latore Wallace Jr.

After allegations of an affair with Tupac Shakur, Evans became involved in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry which dominated rap music at the time.

Following her collaborations with labelmates including 112 and Carl Thomas, she released her debut studio album, Faith (1995) to critical acclaim and moderate commercial reception.

Released on August 29, 1995, in North America, the album was a main collaboration with Bad Boy's main producers, The Hitmen, including Chucky Thompson and Combs, but it also resulted in recordings with Poke & Tone and Herb Middleton.

Faith became a success based on the singles "You Used to Love Me" and "Soon as I Get Home".

The album was eventually certified platinum with 1.5 million copies sold, according to RIAA.

Evans then guest performed alongside 112 on Puff Daddy's 1997 single "I'll Be Missing You," which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and became the first hip hop song to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100.

The turbulent marriage resulted in Evans' involvement in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry—which dominated much of hip hop music's mainstream coverage at the time—and concluded with Wallace's unsolved drive-by murder on March 9, 1997.

Wallace was murdered in a yet-to-be-solved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California in March 1997.

During early 1997, after her separation from Wallace, but before his death, Evans' friend Missy Elliott introduced her to record company executive Todd Russaw.

Faith began dating Russaw during her and Wallace's separation and after Wallace died, Evans became pregnant by Russaw.

After Biggie's murder on March 9, 1997, Combs helped Evans produce her tribute song named "I'll Be Missing You", based on the melody of The Police's 1983 single "Every Breath You Take".

The song, which featured Combs, Evans, and the all-male group 112, became a worldwide number-one success and debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during 1997, scoring that for eleven weeks.

Her second and third albums, Keep the Faith (1998) and Faithfully (2001) peaked at numbers six and 14 on the Billboard 200, respectively, and saw further critical praise.

The couple had their first son Joshua on June 10, 1998 (her 25th birthday).

Also an actress and author, Evans made her screen debut in the 2000 musical drama Turn It Up by Robert Adetuyi.

Evans then parted ways with Bad Boy in favor of Capitol Records in 2003.

Her fourth album, The First Lady (2005) peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and topped the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, while her fifth album, A Faithful Christmas (2005)—a holiday album—failed to chart and served as her final release on a major label.

During the summer of 1998, Evans and Russaw were married, and on March 22, 2007, they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw.

Her 2008 autobiography, Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing and won a 2009 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category.

Following a hiatus, she released her sixth album, Something About Faith (2010) independently, followed by her seventh album, Incomparable (2014).

With a career spanning two decades, Evans has sold over 20 million records worldwide.