Faith Evans Biography




Faith Evans
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

For the marshal, see Faith Evans (U.S. Marshal).
Faith Evans
Birth name Faith Renée Evans
Born June 10, 1973 (1973-06-10) (age 36)
Coral Gables, Florida
United States
Origin Newark, New Jersey, United States
Genres R&B, soul, hip hop soul
Occupations Singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, author
Years active 1993–present
Labels Bad Boy (1994–2003)
Capitol (2004–present)
Website FaithEvansOnline.com

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress and author. Born in Lakeland, Florida and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Evans moved to Los Angeles in 1993 for a career in music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure, she became the first female artist to be signed to Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment label in 1994, on which she released three platinum-certified studio albums between the years of 1995 and 2001.1 In 2003, she left the label to sign with Capitol Records.2

Next to her recording career, Evans is widely known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married on August 4, 1994, 3 weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photoshoot.3 The turbulent marriage led to Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the rap scene at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California in March 1997.4 A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and 112, entitled "I'll Be Missing You," became Evans' biggest-selling hit to date and won her a Grammy Award in 1998.2

Also an avocational actress and writer, Evans made her big screen debut in the 2000 musical drama Turn It Up by Robert Adetuyi. Her self-written autobiography Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2008 and was nominated in 2009 for an African American Literary Award [1].

Contents

Biography

Early life

Evans was born in Lakeland, Florida in June 1973 to an African-American mother, Helene Evans, a professional singer.2 Her father, Richard Swain, was a musician 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").5 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 in the time that Faith lived with them.24 It was not until a couple of years later, Helene's career floundered and she tried to take Evans back home. Faith, however, was scared to leave what she'd "been used to," and instead, Helene moved in next door.2

Raised in a Christian home, Evans began singing at church at age two, and 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."6 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. "I was raised in a very, very Christian home", Evans told i-D magazine in a 1998 interview. "It was church, school, church, school. I could hardly go to the corner of my block. It was strict."

After graduating from High School in 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but dropped out a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin.1 A couple of months later she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as a backup vocalist for singer Al B. Sure, when she caught the ear of musician Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. Impressed with her persona, Combs signed her as the label's first female artist to his Bad Boy Entertainment in 1994.1

Recording career

1995—2010

Newly signed to Bad Boy, Evans was consulted by executive producer Combs to contribute backing vocals and writing skills to Mary J. Blige's My Life (1994) and Usher's self-titled debut album (1994) prior to starting work on her debut record Faith.7 Released on August 29, 1995 in North America, the album saw her primarily collaborating with Bad Boy's main producers The Hitmen, including Chucky Thompson and Combs, but also spawned recordings with Poke & Tone and Herb Middleton. Faith became a hit based on the singles "You Used To Love Me" and "Soon as I Get Home". The album was certified platinum with 1.5 million copies sold, according to RIAA.8

Following Biggie's murder in March 1997, Puff Daddy helped get Evans out of her gloom to record a tribute song titled "I'll Be Missing You". The song, which featured Puffy, Evans, and Bad Boy Records group 112, reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1997 and stayed there for eleven weeks. The song won Puffy and Evans a Grammy Award for Best Rap Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

Faith is working hard on her sixth album Got Faith? in stores 2010. She has teamed up with the likes of Babyface, Chucky Thompson, The Neptunes, StarGate, Missy Elliott, and many more. She has also been writing music with Lady GaGa. Faith said "Lady GaGa is talented. I wanted to do something different with this album, and GaGa is helping me to create some upbeat, fresh and hot new music. Plus I definitely wanted it more upbeat and up to date. Monica, Mary J. Blige, and Whitney Houston are all coming back hard, so I feel after five years, it's my time to return to the scene." Faith said in an interview with BET that the album is "different from what I've done, but still remains the same" and "that there are hot upbeat tracks on the album." Rumor is the first single is Aftermath which was produced by Rodney Jerkins and features rapper Flo Rida.

Personal life

Prior to Faith Evans meeting and having a relationship with The Notorious B.I.G., she was involved in a relationship with Kiyamma Griffin. She and Griffin had a daughter named Chyna, who was born April 1, 1993. Evans then married The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) on August 4, 1994.3 The marriage was turbulent as B.I.G. reportedly had affairs with Lil Kim and Charli Baltimore. But the two did reunite and their son Christopher Wallace, Jr., (who plays his father ages 10–13 in the 2009 biopic Notorious), was born on October 29, 1996; five months later, Wallace was murdered in a California drive-by shooting. The case, as of 2009, still remains unsolved. In summer 1997 the Bad Boy Records tribute to Wallace "I'll Be Missing You" dominated charts worldwide. In February 1998 Evans, Combs, and 112 won a Grammy award for their work on the recording.

In late 1997 Evans became pregnant by Todd Russaw. Her son Joshua was born June 10, 1998. In the summer of 1998 Faith and Todd got married.9 On March 22, 2007 they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw.

In Faith Evans' autobiography, Keep the Faith: A Memoir, she states "Biggie and I had known each other for barely two months. And we were now married. I don't know where the legend of us getting married after nine days comes from. Granted, two months isn't a long time, either. But unlike what's been printed so many times, we didn't get married nine days after we met."

Autobiography

Evans released her biographic book called Keep the Faith: A Memoir on August 29, 2008. It detailed the highs and lows of the singer's life, but also shed light on Evans' controversial relationship with her late husband, the Notorious B.I.G. "I want people to understand that although he was a large part of my life, my story doesn't actually begin or end with Big's death. My journey has been complicated on many levels. And since I am always linked to Big, there are a lot of misconceptions about who I really am. It's not easy putting your life out there for the masses. But I've decided I'll tell my own story. For Big. For my children. And for myself."10

Nominated for a 2009 African American Literary Award.

Discography

Main article: Faith Evans discography

Awards and nominations

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b c Helligar, Jeremy (1998-11-16). "Mrs. B.I.G.". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20126796,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-14. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Wood, Gaby (2005-07-10). "Rap's first lady". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/jul/10/popandrock. Retrieved 2009-03-14. 
  3. ^ a b Kevin Chappell (April 1999). After Biggie: Faith Evans has a new love, a new baby, a new career - singer. Ebony. Accessed 2008-10-15.
  4. ^ a b Waldron, Clarence (1999-11-15). "Faith Evans Tells How She Balances Motherhood and Music". Jet Magazine. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_24_96/ai_57800104/pg_2. Retrieved 2009-03-15. 
  5. ^ Evans, Faith; Aliya S. King (2008). Keep the Faith: A Memoir. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0446199508. 
  6. ^ "Faith's healing - Faith Evans, singer, mother and widow of rapper Notorious B.I.G - Cover Story - Interview", Essence, December 1997. Accessed July 10, 2007.
  7. ^ Huey, Steve (2006-11-16). "Full Biography". Allmusic. MTV. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/evans_faith/artist.jhtml#bio. Retrieved 2009-03-20. 
  8. ^ Smaldino, Denise (2008-04-30). "Sean Combs earns platinum, gold". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984917.html?categoryid=3067&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-03-20. 
  9. ^ Essence Mag cover interview
  10. ^ Barnes & Noble synposis.

External links

v • d • e
Faith Evans
Studio albums

Faith (1995) · Keep the Faith (1998) · Faithfully (2001) · The First Lady (2005)
Holiday albums
Related topics
v • d • e
Bad Boy Records
Current artists
Former artists
Producers