- [Narrator] From the first notes
with that sultry soprano voice,
Faith Evans has kept fans swaying to her songs for decades.
With her natural talent of singing and songwriting,
we've been witness to Faith Evans' massive talent,
from being the first lady of Bad Boy
to the legend that she is now.
We've been able to follow her progression in the music world
and all of us have been rewarded for it.
With over 20 million albums sold,
a Grammy win, and two Soul Train awards,
Faith Evans has been able to keep us engaged
and embracing a love we never knew like this before.
(relaxed R&B music)
Faith Evans started off as a young child
in Lakeland, Florida
before her mother moved her to New Jersey.
She loved listening to her mother's records
and was inspired by the likes of Donna Summer,
Earth, Wind & Fire, Joni Mitchell,
Jimmy Hendrix, and Anita Ward.
But it was the experiences that she had
while being raised by extended family
in a church environment
that brought Faith face to face
with her performing potential.
At the age of three,
she blew the Emmanuel Baptist Congregation away
as she belted out "Let The Sunshine In"
from the musical Hair.
From that moment on, she nurtured her talent
and begin to build her other innate talent: writing.
while touring with the gospel group Spiritual Uplifters.
- Congratulations on this mega bomb LP you put down.
This is airtight. - Thank you.
- Who's the other people you work with putting it together?
- Um...
Well, production included myself,
Puffy Combs. - Right.
- Um...
Ryan Lawrence, Younglord.
I got Babyface. - Oh!
- J-Dub,
Chucky Thompson, and David Foster.
- [Narrator] In 1991, she graduated high school
and attended Fordham University,
but left to pursue her passions.
After a few ups and downs,
Faith began to make strides toward her music goal
as a background singer for people like Al B. Sure!
and Christopher Williams.
She met and impressed then up-and-coming business mogul
Sean Combs,
and he signed her with a deal with Bad Boy records.
Through that, she started writing music
for Mary J. Blige's sophomore album, My Life,
and Usher's self-entitled debut album,
while also creating songs for her Faith album
that went on to be certified platinum.
Her time with Bad Boy became beneficial
with her meeting fellow Bad Boy artists
Christopher "Notorious BIG" Wallace,
and the two married in 1994.
During that time, Faith Evans was able to grow her fan base
and musical influence over the world
with her first album.
The album sold over a million copies
and Faith was nominated for a Best New Artist award
at the Soul Train Music Awards in 1996,
but soon, she was devastated
by the unexpected loss of Notorious BIG.
Faith's willingness to share her pain
at the loss of Notorious BIG
helped create the Grammy award-winning song,
"I'll Be Missing You"
with Combs and Bad Boy labelmate 112,
and has been able to withstand the test of time.
- Hello, Ms. Thing.
- Hi. - I got to give you some love.
- How are you? - Faith, I'm well.
Faith Evans in the house. (Faith chuckles)
- Good to be here. - I'm very well, right.
Yeah, it's good to have you, really.
I'm a fan to the end. - Thank you.
- It's good to see you back doing your thing.
- Yeah, I'm back. - Yeah?
(Faith chuckles) No, you're definitely back.
You're back, and people are loving you.
95 platinum with Faith,
and now you're back, Faithfully.
- Mm-hmm. - 2002.
Feel good? - Feels great.
- Yeah? - Feels great.
I'm really excited about the album.
It's definitely my best album
and I've been getting a really good response so far.
- Definitely.
101,000 copies sold in the first week.
- Yeah. - Number two
on the R&B album charts. - Yeah.
- I saw you Vibes, saw you in Jet,
strutting your stuff. (Faith laughs)
Why do you think it is?
I mean, you said, why is this one your best?
- Uh, well, this album just,
it's a perfect reflection of the studying that I did.
Like, I went into complete study mode
going into this project.
Like I didn't grow up listening to a wide variety of artists
and genres of music, but like,
my manager and myself-- - Yeah.
- Went and bought like, so many records
and box sets. - Okay.
- And I dug into different catalogs of artists
just to get ideas for things,
you know, samples. - Right.
- I wanted to use melodies, different things.
I just went into the lab,
as we say. (laughs) - Right. (laughs)
- [Narrator] Along with her music and songwriting,
Faith Evans expanded her reach
with writing her 2009 autobiography, "Keeping The Faith".
The book was a New York Times bestseller
and received an African-American literature award.
She also co-created and executive produced
and starred in the first two seasons
of the hit series R&B Divas,
and was awarded with the 2018 Lady of Soul Award
at the Soul Train Awards.
Faith Evans has been an example of what can be accomplished
with immense talent and great strength.
The road to her legacy may have been bumpy along the way,
but Faith has been a beacon of hope,
rising again amongst the dark times,
showing us all how to reach our greatest potential.
What's the next milestone that Faith Evans plans to reach?
Only heaven knows.
(bright music)