Faith Renée Jordan (née Evans; born June 10, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams, she became the first female artist to contract with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment recording company in 1994, for which she collaborated with several label mates such as 112 and Carl Thomas and released three platinum-certified studio albums between 1995 and 2001, including Faith (1995), Keep the Faith (1998) and Faithfully (2001).[1]
Other than her recording career, Evans is most known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married on August 4, 1994, a few weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photoshoot.[4] The turbulent marriage resulted in Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry, dominating the rap music news at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in an unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997.[5] A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and the band 112, named "I'll Be Missing You", won Evans a Grammy Award in 1998.[2] Also an actress and writer, Evans made her screen debut in the 2000 musical drama Turn It Up by Robert Adetuyi. Her autobiography Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2008 and won a 2009 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category.
Having previously appeared in stage plays as a teenager, Evans began acting with a supporting role in director Robert Adetuyi's 2000 music drama Turn It Up, featuring Pras Michel from The Fugees, Jason Statham and Ja Rule. Released to generally negative reviews from critics,[35] who noted it "patently absurd in both the details and larger aspects",[36] the indie film had a short play and became a financial disappointment, gaining US$1.24 million during its U.S. run only.[37]
During 2003, Evans acted in the 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.[38] Filmed in Columbus, Georgia and headed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. (her character is his mother) and Beyoncé Knowles, the film garnered mixed reviews by critics,[39] but scored top three of the U.S. box office, resulting in a domestic gross of US$30.2 million.[40] In addition, Evans recorded a contemporary cover version of Donna Summer's 1978 success "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.[41]
During 2004, Evans earned a brief guest stint on the UPN situation comedy Half & Half.[42] 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
In 2012, Evans co-executive produced and became a cast member on the TV One reality show R&B Divas: Atlanta alongside fellow R&B singers Nicci Gilbert, Syleena Johnson, Keke Wyatt and Monifah.[27] The show offered an inside look at how the singers balance their music careers and personal lives as they work towards producing an Evans-led compilation album, R&B Divas (2012), in memory of Whitney Houston. Broadcast to rating records for the network,[28] the series produced a spin-off titled R&B Divas: Los Angeles and was renewed for two further seasons. Evans, who left the show following its second season, earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album at the 55th awards ceremony.[29]
In August 2013, Evans confirmed she had begun work on her sixth studio album Incomparable,[30] involving contribution from Chucky Thompson, Mike City, KeKe Wyatt, B.Slade and Karen Clark Sheard of The Clark Sisters.[30] "I Deserve It", a record featuring recurring collaborator Missy Elliott and her protégée Sharaya J, was released on August 25, 2014, as the album's lead single and peaked at number 19 on Billbord's Adult R&B Songs chart.[31] Released by Prolific Music Group and BMG Rights Management on November 24, 2014,[32] Incomparable debuted at number 27 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 17 on the US Independent Albums chart.[33]
In 2016, Evans announced that she was finishing a posthumous Notorious B.I.G. album titled The King & I, which will feature duets with her late husband. The album was released on May 19, 2017.[34]
As of 2018, she is married to producer and Love and Hip Hop Atlanta star Stevie J.