b. 10 June 1973, Lakeland, Florida, USA. Most famous for having been married to hardcore rapper the Notorious B.I.G., R&B singer Faith Evans originally rose to prominence by singing background vocals and co-writing songs for Mary J. Blige, Color Me Badd and Tony Thompson. She broke through as a solo artist in the mid-90s with the release of her winning debut single, "You Used To Love Me". Mixing slightly lisped rap sections with soulful singing of her predominantly romantic concerns, her self-titled debut album followed expertly in the tradition of Blige, with a wide cast of producers and collaborators. Without ever demonstrating the originality to separate her from a host of urban R&B peers, Faith was sufficiently contemporaneous and lavishly executed to arouse interest throughout the R&B community. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard R&B album chart, and number 22 on the Top 200.
Following Notorious B.I.G.'s murder in March 1997, Evans appeared on the international number 1 tribute single "I'll Be Missing You" by Sean "Puffy" Combs. Her own minor hit "Love Like This" (US number 7/UK number 24) was built around a sample from Chic's "Chic Cheer", and premiered the US Top 10 album Keep The Faith. Evans recorded one final album for Bad Boy, the moderately successful 2001 release Faithfully. A low-key acting career failed to ignite despite roles in Turn It Up (2000) and The Fighting Temptations (2003), and Evans next made the headlines in 2004 when she was arrested with her husband/manager Todd Russaw for drug possession. She bounced back the following year with her first album for new label Capitol Records, The First Lady.
