Faith Evans

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Biography

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an United States|American singer- songwriter , record producer , and actress . Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey , Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure and Christopher Williams (singer)|Christopher Williams , she became the first female artist to be contracted with Sean Combs|Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs ' Bad Boy Entertainment recording company during 1994, for which she released three platinum-certified studio albums between the years 1995 and 2001. During 2003, she ended her relationship with the company to contract with Capitol Records .

Other than her recording career, Evans is known as the widow of New York rapper The Notorious B.I.G.|Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace , whom she married on August 4, 1994, a few weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photoshoot. The turbulent marriage resulted in Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry|East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud , dominating the rap music news at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in a Notorious_B.I.G.#March 1997 shooting and death|yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California during March 1997. A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and the band 112 (band)|112 , named " I'll Be Missing You ", became Evans' best-selling song to date and won her a Grammy Award during 1998.

Also an avocational actress and writer, Evans made her screen debut in the 2000 musical drama Turn It Up (film)|Turn It Up by Robert Adetuyi . Her autobiography Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing during 2008 and won a 2009 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category.

Early life

Evans was born in Lakeland, Florida to an African American|African-American mother, Helene Evans, a professional singer. 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"). 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 care|foster parents of more than a hundred children they raised in the time that Faith lived with them. 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'd "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, New Jersey|Newark ) when she sang The 5th Dimension 's song " Let the Sunshine In "."Faith's healing – Faith Evans, singer, mother and widow of rapper Notorious B.I.G – Cover Story – Interview", Essence (magazine)|Essence , December 1997. Retrieved on 2007-07-10 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_n8_v28/ai_20039489/pg_2. While attending University High School (New Jersey)|University High School in Newark, she sang with several jazz music|jazz bands and, encouraged by Helene, entered outside pageants, festivals and contests, where her voice would be noticed and praised. After graduating from high school during 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but ended out a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin. A couple of months later , she relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked as a backing vocalist|backup vocalist for singer Al B. Sure , when she was noticed by musician Sean Combs|Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs . Impressed with her persona, Combs contracted her as the company's first female artist to his Bad Boy Entertainment during 1994.

Recording career

1994—2004: Bad Boy Records

Newly contracted to Bad Boy Records , Evans was consulted by executive producer Combs to contribute backing vocals and writing skills to Mary J. Blige 's My Life (Mary J. Blige album)|My Life (1994) and Usher (entertainer)|Usher's Usher (album)|self-titled debut album (1994) prior to starting work on her debut record album Faith (Faith Evans album)|Faith . Released on August 29, 1995 in North America, the album was a collaboration with Bad Boy's main producers " The Hitmen (production team)|The Hitmen ", including Chucky Thompson and Combs, but it 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 certified Platinum album|Platinum with 1,500,000 copies sold, according to RIAA .

After Biggie's murder during March 1997, Combs helped Evans produce her tribute song named " I'll Be Missing You ", sampling (music)|based on the melody of The Police|The Police's 1983 single " Every Breath You Take ". The song, which featured Combs, Evans, and all-male group 112 (band)|112 , became a worldwide number-one success and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100|U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart during 1997, scoring that for eleven weeks. It eventually won Puffy and Evans the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group . The next year, she received another two Grammy nominations for " Heartbreak Hotel (Whitney Houston song)|Heartbreak Hotel ", a collaboration with singers Whitney Houston and Kelly Price , that scored number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Two years in the making, Evans' second solo effort, Keep the Faith (Faith Evans album)|Keep the Faith , was released during October 1998. Almost entirely written and produced by her, Evans considered the album difficult to complete as she had initially felt discouraged about the progress at first. Upon its release, however, the album garnered generally positive reviews by music critics, with Allmusic noting it "without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music". Also enjoying commercial success, it eventually went platinum and produced the top ten singles " Love Like This (Faith Evans song)|Love Like This " and "All Night Long" (released March 30, 1999) prompting Evans to start an 18-city theater tour with Dru Hill and Total (band)|Total the following year.

Evans' third album on the Bad Boy imprint, named Faithfully (Faith Evans album)|Faithfully (2001), involved her working with a wider range of producers, including The Neptunes , Mario Winans , Buckwild , Vada Nobles , Cory Rooney , and others. Her first project with husband Todd Russaw as executive producer and creative partner, the album scored number 14 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number two on the Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, eventually being certified platinum, but yielded moderately successful singles, with the Jennifer Lopez -written " I Love You (Faith Evans song)|I Love You " becoming the only top twenty entry. Released amid Bad Boy Records' transition from distributor Arista Records to Universal Records|Universal , Evans felt Faithfully received minimum assistance by the company, and during 2004, she finally decided to end her business with Bad Boy as she was convinced Combs couldn't improve her career any more due to his other commitments.

2004—2007: Capitol Records

After ending with Bad Boy Entertainment Evans contracted with Capitol Records company, becoming the first contemporary R& B artist to do so, and started work on her fourth studio album The First Lady , named after her nickname on her former label. As opposed to having an in-house team of producers who supplied most of the previous material, she and Russaw were able to gain more creative control of the album and consulted producers such as Bryan-Michael Cox , Jermaine Dupri , Mike Caren , Pharrell Williams , and Chucky Thompson to contribute to it. Upon its release in April 2005, The First Lady scored at number two on the Billboard 200 and #1 of the Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming Evans' best-charting album to date. It was eventually certified gold by the RIAA .
At the end of the year, Evans released A Faithful Christmas , a holiday album of traditional Christmas song s and original tracks. The effort would become her last release on Capitol Records as the company was bought during 2007.

2008—present: Hiatus and E1 Entertainment

Following a longer hiatus, Evans signed a deal with E1 Entertainment - the largest independent record label in the United States - in 2010. Her sixth studio album Something About Faith was released on October 5, 2010 in the United States and December 6, 2010 in the UK . In the US, the album debuted and peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard 200, number four on the Top R& B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number one on the Independent Albums chart, failing however to chart oustide the US - making it Evans' only album since her debut Faith to chart in the US only. Something About Faith has spawned the single and music video " Gone Already "; which spent over thirty-three weeks on the US Billboard Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at number twenty-two. On February 14, 2011, a High-definition video|high definition music video for "Right Here" was released on Evans' official YouTube account, suggesting that it is the second single from the album, though this is yet to be confirmed.

Other ventures

Acting

Having previously appeared in stage play s as a teenager, Evans began acting with a supporting role in director Robert Adetuyi 's 2000 music drama Turn It Up (film)|Turn It Up , featuring Pras Michel from the The Fugees , Jason Statham and Ja Rule . Released to generally negative reviews from critics, who noted it "patently absurd in both the details and larger aspects", the indie film had a short play and became a financial disappointment, gaining US$1.24 million during its U.S. run only.

During 2003, Evans acted in the MTV Films|MTV -produced romantic comedy The Fighting Temptations in which she appeared in a brief but major role portraying a single mother and night club singer. Filmed in Columbus, Georgia and headed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. (her character is his mother) and Beyoncé Knowles , the film garnered mixed reviews by critcs, but scored top top three of the U.S. box office, resulting in a domestic gross of US$30.2 million. In addition, Evans recorded a contemporary cover version of Donna Summer 's 1978 success " Heaven Knows (Donna Summer song)|Heaven Knows " for the film which her characters performs during one of the first in sequence in the film. The accompanying soundtrack scored the top twenty of the U.S. Billboard 200.

During 2004, Evans earned a brief guest stint on the UPN situation comedy Half & Half . Evans announced that she had been working on a synopsis for her own situation comedy that would be based largely on her life but with a more comedic aspect. It is unknown whether she has officially pitched the sitcom to any television networks at this time.

Writing

Evans released her autobiographic book called Keep the Faith: A Memoir on August 29, 2008. It detailed the singer's life, but also discussed 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."Barnes & Noble synopsis. Retrieved from http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Keep-The-Faith/Faith-Evans/e/9780446199506.

In its initial release, "Keep the Faith: A Memoir" landed in the Top 20 on New York's Best Seller's List two consecutive weeks in a row. During 2009, the book received The 2009 African American Literary Award for Best Biography/Memoir.

Personal life

Prior to 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 (born April 1, 1993).

On August 4, 1994, Evans married rapper and label mate The Notorious B.I.G., after having met him at a Bad Boy photoshoot. The couple had one child together, Christopher Wallace, Jr. (born October 29, 1996), but the marriage was turbulent as Wallace reportedly had several affairs during their union, including relationships with fellow rappers Lil' Kim and Charli Baltimore . Additionally, it led to Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry|East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud , dominating the rap music news at the time, which ended with Wallace's murder in a Notorious B.I.G.#March 1997 shooting and death|yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California in March 1997, and made Evans " Rap music|Rap 's most famous widow".

During early 1997, after her separation from Wallace, but before his death, Evans was introduced to record company executive Todd Russaw. Faith began dating Russaw during her and Wallace's separation and eventually, after Wallace died, Evans became pregnant by Russaw. The couple had their first son Joshua on June 8, 1998. During the summer of 1998, Evans and Russaw were married, and on March 22, 2007, they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw.

During January 2004, Evans and Russaw were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine and an improper tag violation during a traffic stop in Hapeville, Georgia|Hapeville , a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia . In August 2010 she was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving, after being stopped at a checkpoint in Marina del Rey, California . In 2011, Evans filed for divorce against Russaw. The couple agreed to spend 13 weeks in a drug-treatment program in exchange for halting any further prosecution of their drug-possession case.

In May 2011, Evans and Russaw announced they were getting a divorce, and stated they would like to keep it quiet for the children's sake. http://vibe.com/posts/breaking-faith-evans-todd-russaw-release-official-divorce-statement/

Discography

Studio Albums

1995: Faith (Faith Evans album)|Faith

1998: Keep the Faith (Faith Evans album)|Keep the Faith

2001: Faithfully (Faith Evans album)|Faithfully

2005: The First Lady

2010: Something About Faith

Other Albums

2005: A Faithful Christmas

Tours

The First Lady Tour (2005)

Filmography

2000: Turn It Up (film)|Turn It Up

2003: The Fighting Temptations

Awards and nominations

African American Literary Award

*2009: African American Literary Award: Keep the Faith (A Memoir) ( won )

BET Awards

*2002: Best Female R& B Artist (nominated)

Grammy Awards

*2011: Best Female R& B Vocal Performance : " Gone Already " (nominated)

*2003: Best Contemporary R& B Album : Faithfully (Faith Evans album)|Faithfully (nominated)

*2001: Best R& B Performance by a Duo or Group : "Can't Believe" w/ Carl Thomas (nominated)

*2000: Best R& B Performance by a Duo or Group : " Heartbreak Hotel " w/ Whitney Houston & Kelly Price (nominated)

*1999: Best Female R& B Vocal Performance : " Love Like This (Faith Evans song)|Love Like This " (nominated)

*1998: Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group : " I'll Be Missing You " w/ Sean Combs|Diddy ( won )

Lady of Soul Awards

*2000: Outstanding Music Video: "Love Is Blind" (by Eve (entertainer)|Eve ft. Faith Evans) (nominated)

*1996: Best Female R& B/Soul Album: Faith ( won )

*1996: Best R& B/Soul or Rap New Artist: " You Used to Love Me (Faith Evans song)|You Used to Love Me " (nominated)

MTV Video Music Awards

*2000: Best Rap Video: "Love Is Blind" (by Eve ft. Faith Evans) (nominated)

*1999: Best R& B Video: "Heartbreak Hotel" (nominated)

*1997: Best R& B Video: "I'll Be Missing You" ( won )

*1997: Viewer's Choice: "I'll Be Missing You" (nominated)

Soul Train Awards

*2006: Best Female R& B/Soul Album: The First Lady (nominated)

*1998: Outstanding Music Video: "I'll Be Missing You" ( won )

Copyright Citations

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1. Mary J. Blige 2. Teena Marie 3. Whitney Houston 4. New Edition 5. Jon B. 6. SWV 7. Xscape 8. 112 9. Syleena Johnson 10. Kelly Price 11. Joanna Levesque 12. Aaron Hall 13. Keyshia Cole 14. Ne-Yo 15. Eric Benet 16. Tina Marie 17. Robin Thicke 18. El DeBarge

Urban/R&B Music Artists