Faith Renée Evans is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. She first performed as a backing vocalist for R&B singers Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams, and by the age of 20, she signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records as the label's first female artist in 1994. Following her collaborations with labelmates including 112 and Carl Thomas, she released her debut studio album, Faith (1995) to critical acclaim and moderate commercial reception. Evans then guest performed alongside 112 on label boss Puff Daddy's 1997 single "I'll Be Missing You," which received a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and became the first hip hop song to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100. Her second and third albums, Keep the Faith (1998) and Faithfully (2001) peaked at numbers six and 14 respectively on the Billboard 200 and saw further positive reception.

Faith Evans