Faith Renée Evans (pronounced /feɪθ ɛvəns/, born June 10, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress and author. Born in Coral Gables, 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 in 1994 nine days after meeting at a 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 in March 1997.[3] A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and 112, entitled "I'll Be Missing You," became Evan's 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. In 2003, she had a supporting role in the gospel comedy The Fighting Temptations alongside Cuba Gooding, Jr., in which she portrayed a struggling singer.[2] Her self-written autobiography Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2008. heart heart heart heart
