Faith Renée Evans, born on June 10, 1973, in Lakeland, Florida, is a multi-talented American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Her journey is one of remarkable resilience, blending a successful music career with personal challenges and triumphs. Evans has left an indelible mark on the R&B landscape, earning a Grammy Award and multi-platinum status.
Early Life and Influences
The first time Faith Evans sang in public, she was three years old. She overcame her nerves to belt out "Let the Sunshine In," from the musical Hair, to the congregation of her local place of worship, Emanuel Baptist Church, in Newark. She recalled the moment in her 2008 memoir, Keep the Faith: "After seeing the reaction of my first audience, I knew I would be a singer. I knew I'd found my calling."
Evans' father, Richard Swain, was out of the picture by the time she was born. She has never met him. Evans had been living in Newark since before her first birthday. Her mom, Helene, was 18 years old, "barely out of high school". With Helene under pressure from the demands of being a young single mother, two older cousins, Mae and Bob Kennedy, offered to look after Evans. She often referred to them as her grandparents, rather than have to explain to people her complex family story.
Evans became obsessed with her mom's record collection on visits to Florida, rifling through albums by Donna Summer, Earth Wind and Fire and Anita Ward. When Evans was 14, she sang in a touring gospel group, The Spiritual Uplifters, which performed in New York, Philadelphia and Connecticut. It was her first brush with the world of hip hop.
The Rise to Fame
After graduating from high school in 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City on a full scholarship to study marketing but dropped out after a year. Soon after, she had her daughter, Chyna, with the music producer Kiyamma Griffin. Through Combs, Evans co-wrote lyrics for Mary J. Blige, and songs for Usher's self-titled debut album, released in 1994. That year, she became the first female artist to get signed by Bad Boy Records.
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Evans became known as the First Lady of Bad Boy after Sean "Puffy" Combs signed her to his influential label in 1994. Evans' bold move paid off almost instantly. Not long after leaving Fordham, the singer found herself composing and performing with Al B. Sure!, Mary J. Blige and others.
In the summer of 1994, Evans met another up-and-coming artist, Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G, at a photo shoot for Bad Boy - and within a mere eight days of knowing each other, they were married. A year after she was married, Evans released her debut solo album, Faith, in August 1995. The album was produced by the in-house Bad Boy production team The Hitmen, headed by Combs himself, and yielded four singles, the first two of which, "You Used to Love Me" and "Soon as I Get Home," were gold-certified hits. Faith would go on to sell more than one million copies in the US alone and be certified platinum by the RIAA.
Evans initially performed as a backing vocalist for R&B singers Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams, and by the age of 20, signed with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records as the label's first female artist in 1994. Following her uncredited appearance on labelmate the Notorious B.I.G.'s single "One More Chance", she released her debut studio album, Faith (1995), to critical acclaim and moderate commercial reception.
With a music career spanning over two decades, Faith has released eight studio albums, with over 18 million albums sold and spawning over 30 singles. Faith has also performed on 20+ soundtracks and a host of guest appearances during her career.
Marriage to the Notorious B.I.G. and its Aftermath
In October 1995, while Evans was working in Los Angeles, she was invited to record with Tupac Shakur. Evans simply recalled that Wallace had always professed “mad love” for Shakur, as the pair had been friends before they became rivals.
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Six months after Tupac was murdered, the Notorious B.I.G was shot dead in Los Angeles, on March 9, 1997. By this time he had separated from Evans, following several infidelities including a year-long affair with the rapper Lil Kim. Like that of Tupac Shakur, the murder of the Notorious B.I.G has never been solved.
In the wake of Wallace's murder, Combs helped Evans produce a tribute song, "I'll Be Missing You," which used the melody from the Police's song "Every Breath You Take." Released on May 27, 1997, "I'll Be Missing You" went to No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and in 1998 won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Evans then guest performed alongside 112 on Combs' 1997 single "I'll Be Missing You," which won Best Rap Performance at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards and became the first hip hop song to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100.
Later Career and Achievements
Her second album, Keep the Faith, came out in September 1998, and was certified platinum the following year. It yielded four singles, including two Top Ten hits - "Love Like This," which was built around a sampled loop from the disco band Chic and won a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Performance; and "All Night Long," which sampled Unlimited Touch's 1980 hit, "I Hear Music in the Streets."
Russaw was executive producer and creative partner on Evans's third album, Faithfully, released on November 6, 2001. The album would be certified gold by the RIAA the following year. After leaving Bad Boy, Evans signed with Capitol Records and released her fourth album, The First Lady, on April 5, 2005. At the end of the year, she released a festive album, A Faithful Christmas. It would be her last album for Capitol, as a result of its merger with Virgin Records in 2007, which led to cuts to the artist roster.
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Evans 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.
In 2008, Faith penned her New York Times Best Selling Book, “Keep the Faith: A Memoir” with Aliya King, which won the 2009 African American Literary Award in the “Best Biography/Memoir” category. The memoir is currently available in hardback, paperback and in e-book format at most major retailers.
Evans took a five-year break from recording after her Christmas album, returning in 2010 with her own record label, Prolific Music Group. Through her label, she released her fifth studio album, Something About Faith, in October 2010. In 2012, Evans co-executive-produced and became a cast member for the reality-TV show R&B Divas: Atlanta. Her sixth solo album, Incomparable, came out in November 2014.
In 2017, Faith released “The King & I“, her long-awaiting duets album with The Notorious B.I.G. on Prolific Music Group & Rhino Records.
Here's a summary of Faith Evans' studio albums:
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Faith | Bad Boy Records |
| 1998 | Keep the Faith | Bad Boy Records |
| 2001 | Faithfully | Bad Boy Records |
| 2005 | The First Lady | Capitol Records |
| 2005 | A Faithful Christmas | Capitol Records |
| 2010 | Something About Faith | Prolific Music Group / E1 Music |
| 2014 | Incomparable | Prolific Music Group / BMG Chrysalis |
| 2017 | The King & I | Prolific Music Group & Rhino Records |
Personal Life
During the summer of 1998, Evans married the record company executive Todd Russaw, to whom she had been introduced by Missy Elliott after separating from Wallace. The couple announced their divorce in 2011 citing irreconcilable differences. In July 2018, Evans married record producer and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star Steven Aaron Jordan, better known as Stevie J., in Las Vegas.
Evans has four children: daughter, Chyna Tahjere Griffin (b. April 1, 1993) with ex-boyfriend, Kiyamma Griffin and sons, Christopher Jordan Wallace (b. October 29, 1996) with late estranged husband, The Notorious B.I.G. and Joshua Jahad Russaw (b. June 8, 1998) & Ryder Evan Russaw (b. March 22, 2007) with ex-husband, Todd Russaw.
In recent years, Faith has dedicated herself to raising her son, Ryder & being an autism awareness advocate.
Faith Evans Saw It All
Despite facing numerous personal challenges, Faith Evans has remained a prominent figure in the music industry. Her powerful voice, songwriting talent, and resilience have solidified her status as one of R&B's all-time greats.