Faith Renee Evans aka Faith biography

Real biography: Evans was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Italian-American father and African-American mother, Helene. Her father was a musician who left before Evans was even born. 18 year old Helene returned to Newark, New Jersey and raised Faith with the help of Faith's Aunt Johnnie Mae. 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 "Let the Sunshine In".

"Faith's healing - Faith Evans, singer, mother and widow of rapper Notorious B.I.G - Cover Story - Interview", Essence (magazine), December 1997. Accessed July 10, 2007. "While attending University High School in Newark, she sang with the chorus and 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".

At 18, she won a scholarship to Fordham University in New York City to major in marketing. After a year, she left to have her first child, a daughter named Chyna, fathered by producer Kiyamma Griffin. Known for hit songs such as the "Your Child" - Remix by Mary J. Blige featuring Ghostface Killah from her double platinum Mary album. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her singing career, and did so with her mother's blessing. "I felt she could always go back to school", Helene Evans told People in 1998. "Because her mind wasn't going to be there. It was going to be on her music." She was in Los Angeles writing songs and doing backup vocals for Al B. Sure!, Mary J. Blige, and Pebbles when she caught the ear of famed R&B producer Sean Combs, a.k.a. P.Diddy. It was rumored that when he first heard Evans sing, he described her voice as feeling "like rain." He signed her to his Bad Boy label in 1994 as the label's first female artist.

Musical career

Evans dated musician and producer Kiyamma Griffin, which produced daughter Chyna. She later split from Griffin, but from his help, Evans worked as a session singer with Al B. Sure, who she met through producer Sean "Puffy" Combs. Combs liked Evans's sound and signed her to his fledgling label Bad Boy Records. She co-wrote and sang backup on Usher's debut album Usher, as well as Mary J. Blige's My Life, two projects in which Combs served as an executive producer. The breadwinner of the label was a Brooklyn rapper The Notorious B.I.G.. He and Evans met at a Bad Boy photoshoot and married only ten days after meeting on 9 August 1994. Evans was first featured as a guest artist in Biggie's 1994 hit, "One More Chance".

Personal Life

Faith is married to music producer Todd Russaw and they have two sons, Joshua and Ryder. She also has a son, Chris Jr., born from her marriage to The Notorious B.I.G., and a daughter Chyna, from her relationship with musician Kiyamma Griffin. (Faith Evans quote) "I don't look at myself as a celebrity. People recognize me, but it's all about my music, my songs. It's not like I'm a greater being. I take my kids to school, pick them up, go to the grocery store. I'm a mother, and my kids mean more to me than even being an artist." -- Faith Evans, 1998.