Faith Evans Biography
Singer, songwriter, and actress Faith Renée Evans hails from the United States. She moved to Los Angeles in 1991 to pursue a recording career after being raised in New Jersey and Lakeland, Florida.
She began her career as a backup vocalist for R&B artists Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams. In 1994, at the age of 20, she became the first female artist to sign with Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records. She had an uncredited cameo on labelmate the Notorious B.I.G.’s hit “One More Chance” before her debut studio album, Faith (1995), was moderately successful commercially and critically acclaimed. READ ALSO: Avi Lewis
Faith Evans Age
Evans is 51 years old, born on 10 June 1973 in Lakeland, Florida, the United States of America. Moreover, Faith observes her birthday every 15th June of the year.
Faith Evans Height
Evans is approximately 1.68m tall
Faith Evans Education
Evans learned and attended University High School in Newark. Evans studied marketing at Fordham University in New York City after graduating from high school in 1991. However, she left the school a year later to have a daughter, Chyna, with music producer Kiyamma Griffin.
Faith Evans Young, Parents, Siblings: Family
Parents: Richard Swain, Helene Evans
Evans was born in Lakeland, Florida, on June 10, 1973, to professional vocalist Helene Evans, an African American mother. Before Evans was born, her father, Richard Swain, an English musician with probable Italian ancestry, left. After living with Faith for six months, Helene, then 19 years old, went back to Newark, New Jersey, and left her with her cousin Johnnie Mae and her husband Orvelt Kennedy. Johnnie Mae and her husband were foster parents to over a hundred children.
Faith had grown up with Orvelt Kennedy and Johnnie Mae as her grandparents. Not until a few years later, when Helene’s career began to falter, did she attempt to bring Evans back to her native country. But Faith was scared to go from what she had “been used to,” so Helene moved next door instead.
Born into a Christian family, Evans started singing in church at the age of two. She sang “Let the Sunshine In” by The 5th Dimension before the Emmanuel Baptist Church congregation in Newark when she was four years old, capturing their attention. Moreover, she participated in various jazz bands while attending University High School in Newark, and Helene pushed her to enter extracurricular pageants, festivals, and competitions where her voice would be heard and appreciated.
Nonetheless, she moved to Los Angeles in 1993 and was discovered by musician Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs while filling in as backup vocalist for singer Al B. Sure!. She impressed Combs so much that in 1994 he signed her as the first female performer to his Bad Boy Entertainment record company. READ ALSO: Christian Pulisic
Faith Evans Net Worth
Faith Evans’ life and work are a symphony of compassion, inventiveness, and accomplishment. Her financial success is reflected in her net worth of $3 million.
Faith Evans Husband
Spouse: Stevie J (m. 2018–2023), Todd Russaw (m. 1998–2011), The Notorious B.I.G. (m. 1994–1997)
Faith Evans Biggie (Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace): Did Sean Diddy Combs Kill Faith Evans Husband?
After meeting Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace at a Bad Boy photo session, Evans wed the rapper and labelmate on August 4, 1994. Christopher George Latore Wallace Jr. is the only child the couple had together.
Evans was entangled in the East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop rivalry that dominated rap music at the time following claims of an affair with Tupac Shakur. In March 1997, Wallace was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California, that is still unsolved.
Wallace and Evans had split up prior to Wallace’s passing.
Faith Evans Todd Russaw
In early 1997, following her divorce from Wallace but prior to his passing, Evans was introduced to Todd Russaw, a record industry executive, by her friend Missy Elliott. While Faith and Wallace were separated, Russaw started dating her, and following Wallace’s passing, Evans became pregnant through Russaw.
Joshua, the couple’s first child, was born on June 10, 1998, the day of her 25th birthday. Evans and Russaw were joined in marriage in the summer of 1998, and on March 22, 2007, Ryder Evan Russaw, their second son, was born.
Faith Evans and Diddy Combs
Combs collaborated with Evans to write her tribute song “I’ll Be Missing You” following Biggie’s murder on March 9, 1997. The song was inspired by The Police’s 1983 hit song “Every Breath You Take.” Moreover, the song, which included Combs, Evans, and the all-male group112, peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for eleven weeks in 1997 and became a global hit.
Evans participated as “Skunk” in season six of The Masked Singer in 2021. She revealed her identity at the Group A Finals, mentioning her son’s autism and The Notorious B.I.G.’s passing.
During a traffic stop in the Georgian suburb of Hapeville in January 2004, Evans and Russaw were taken into custody and charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana as well as an incorrect tag infringement.
In August 2010, following a stop at a Marina del Rey, California, checkpoint, Evans was taken into custody on suspicion of misdemeanor drunk driving. Evans filed for divorce from Russaw in 2011.
The pair consented to a 13-week drug treatment program in exchange for the prosecution of their drug possession charge being dropped. Further, Evans and Russaw declared in May 2011 that they were divorcing, adding that they wished to keep the news private for the benefit of their kids.
Faith Evance and Stevie J
Atlanta love and hip-hop star and producer Stevie J. was married to Faith on July 17, 2018. On July 27, 2018, the duo published the popular single “A Minute”. In a number of episodes of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and Leave It to Stevie, Evans co-starred with his pal Stevie J between 2015 and 2019.
Evans was detained in May 2020 on suspicion of criminal domestic abuse against Stevie J. The charges were eventually dropped after she was freed on bond. Stevie J filed for divorce in 2021. In 2023, the divorce was finalized.
Faith Evans Children/Kids
Children: Chyna Tahjere Griffin, C. J. Wallace, Joshua Jahad Russaw, Ryder Evan Russaw
Faith Evans Tupac
Biggie and Evans were married, but at the height of the rapper’s spat with 2Pac, their marriage was starting to sour. After she worked with ‘Pac on a song and was even pictured with him, the conflict got even more heated, sparking suspicions that the two were having an affair. SUGGESTED: Rebecca Walker