Faith Evans

Fun Facts: Before becoming an R&B star, Faith did backup vocals for Al B. Sure, Mary J. Blige, and Pebbles.

Claim to Fame: Faith was signed to Bad Boy Entertainment in 1994 as the first female solo artist. She was first featured on “One More Chance� by the late Notorious B.I.G. They married shortly afterward.

Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress and author. Born in Lakeland, 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. Her father, Richard Swain, was a musician who left before Evans was born. 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 parents of more than 100 children they raised in the time that Faith lived with them. It was not until a couple of years later, Helene's career floundered and she tried to take Evans back home. Faith, however, was scared to leave what she'd "been used to," and instead, Helene moved in next door. While attending University High School in Newark, she sang with several 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."

After graduating from High School in 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but dropped out a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin.



Newly signed to Bad Boy, Evans was consulted by executive producer Combs to contribute backing vocals and writing skills to Mary J. Blige's My Life and Usher's self-titled debut album prior to starting work on her debut record Faith. Released on August 29, 1995 in North America, the album saw her primarily collaborating with Bad Boy's main producers The Hitmen, including Chucky Thompson and Combs, but also spawned recordings with Poke & Tone and Herb Middleton. Faith became a hit based on the singles "You Used To Love Me" and "Soon as I Get Home". The album was certified platinum with 1.5 million copies sold, according to RIAA.

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