Faith Evans has been married thrice since she began her professional career. Her first marriage was to The Notorious B.I.G. and it lasted from 1994 to 1997. After they parted ways, she married Todd Russaw (1998–2011), and later Stevie J (2018–2021).
Faith Evans is one musician who has made the headlines for her love life as much as her musical exploits. The Florida-born singer has dropped several hit albums which have spurned evergreen tracks such as I’ll Be Missing You, Soon As I Get Home, and Never Gonna Let You Go.
She has sold more than 20 million records and won several awards, including a Grammy. She has also featured in several TV shows and movies. Evans’ career exploits have been captivating but so has her love life which has often intertwined with her music.
The Grammy-winner famously dated and married the late Biggie Smalls after just eight days. They would remain legally hitched until his death but their union was marred by several issues, including Biggie’s cheating spree and Evans’ alleged hookup with his bitter rival, Tupac.
That unproven speculation will ultimately heighten the rivalry between both men and when they both wound up dead, some people fingered Evans. She refused to let this wreck her but forged on with her career. She has also gone on to give love another chance on multiple occasions.
Faith Evans’ First Known Relationship Was With Music Producer, Kiyamma Griffin, in 1993
One of Faith Evans’ earliest known relationships was with musician, Kiyamma Griffin. Griffin is a native of Newark, New Jersey. He is a music producer, composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. He has produced songs for the likes of Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, Usher, and Christopher Williams.
His genre of music is now gospel as a trip to his social media pages will reveal. Evans first got to know Griffin while she was living in Newark in the early 90s. At that time, she was in her first year of college and they fell head over heels in love with each other. Their romance blossomed until they discovered that she was pregnant.
The young couple were ill-prepared for such and were at a loss of what to do. They however decided to keep the child and relocated to Los Angeles in search of better opportunities there.
In L.A., the couple found it hard to land opportunities in the music industry and this left them struggling to make ends meet. This remained the status even as they went on to welcome their child, a daughter named Chyna Tahjere Griffin, on the 1st of April 1993. The coming of the newborn was a thing of joy but it further strained the couple’s finances and relationship.
They broke up when their baby was a few months old and Faith Evans moved on solo. She largely raised Chyna all by herself but Griffin later made effort to be a part of her life. Chyna is all grown up now and is a budding R&B singer herself. She has a good relationship with both her mom and her dad. Her dad, Griffin, is now remarried to a lady named Ashley and they have about three daughters together.
She Married Biggie Smalls After Eight Days of Dating in 1994
Following her breakup from Griffin, Faith Evans stayed back in Los Angeles with her child. She continued pursuing her music and worked as a backup vocalist for several artists. In the course of doing this, ace musician and producer, Sean Diddy Combs, noticed her and gave her a recording contract with his Bad Boy Record Label in 1994.
Evans was the first female act signed to Bad Boy Records and it changed her life in more ways than one. Professionally, she got to contribute vocals and lyrics for the likes of Usher and Mary J. Blige. She then dropped multiple albums which were all successful.
It was also through her work with Bad Boy that Faith Evans first met the Notorious B.I.G. The Brooklyn-born rapper was also signed to the label and was making waves in the early 90s. Biggie and Evans crossed paths at a Bad Boy photoshoot in July 1994 and he was immediately taken with her.
He appreciated the fact that she was different from all the other girls he had met. He also liked the way she boldly talked to him and told her that she was the type of girl he would like to marry. Her reply was “why don’t you” and they naturally started dating. They dated for only eight days before getting married on the 4th day of August 1994.
Their Marriage Lasted For About Two Years During Which Biggie Often Cheated on Her
Following their nuptials, Faith Evans and The Notorious B.I.G settled down in the city of New York and their love initially blossomed. They had a great thing going on in their personal life with the rapper acting as a doting stepfather to Evans’ daughter, Chyna.
They also collaborated on the music front. The couple was hip hop’s most notable couple but that facade came unraveling after it became obvious that Biggie couldn’t stay faithful. He cheated on Faith Evans with several ladies, including rappers, Lil Kim and Charlie Baltimore. Of course, he tried to cover his tracks but the bubble later burst and Evans was embarrassed beyond words. She broke up with Smalls and moved out of their home in 1996.
Following their separation, the couple began a pattern of on-and-off relationships during which their only child together, son – Christopher, was born. Evans probably had hopes that Smalls would clean up his act and commit for good but this was not to be. He continued with his affairs and by January 1997, she left him for good.
There was so much hurt between the couple at first but they later managed to become friends. They remained on speaking terms and never got to file for divorce until Biggie’s death in 1997 which means that Faith Evans is still regarded as his widow.
Meanwhile, during his lifetime, Biggie revealed that the reason their marriage failed was that they rushed into it. In hindsight, he felt they should have gotten to know each other better rather than marrying after just eight days of dating.
Faith Evans Allegedly Hooked Up With Rapper, Tupac Shakur, in 1996
Despite being estranged from Biggie Smalls, Faith Evans found it difficult to escape from his shadows and the highest point of it all came in June 1996 when fellow rapper, Tupac Shakur, claimed that he had slept with her as a plotline in their legendary rivalry. Back in 1993, Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur were fast-rising rappers and became very good pals.
Their relationship however soured as their profile grew. They were in a natural competition as to who was better and by 1995, they became enemies. They spearheaded the East Coast – West Coast rap feud. They also accused each other of varying degrees of transgression. This would continue for several months and by June 1996, Shakur dropped a diss track, Hit ‘Em Up, in which he claimed that he and Evans had slept together.
Evans stoutly denied this but it nevertheless spread like wildfire. Some people even went on to claim that the child that she and Biggie Smalls had together was fathered by Tupac. The singer maintained her denial but the rumored hookup only served to heighten the beef between Shakur and Biggie Smalls.
When Shakur was gunned down in September 1996, many pointed fingers at Biggie’s camp. When Biggie himself was killed in March 1997, others chalked it up to revenge and pointed the fingers back at Shakur’s camp. In all this, Faith Evans was the lady at the eye of the storm and some people even blamed her for being responsible for the deaths of the two men. This was enough to drive her to commit suicide but she was made of sterner stuff and got over the whole thing.
Faith Evans’ Second Marriage Was To Music Manager, Todd Russaw, in 1998
After finally leaving Biggie Smalls for good in early 1997, Faith Evans went solo for several months before commencing a romance with a longtime collaborator of hers named Todd Russaw. Russaw is an accomplished music producer and talent manager with over two decades of experience in the music industry. He served as the A & R director at Motown Records in the 90s and helped R&B icon, Missy Elliot with her first album. He has also worked with producers such as Pharrell Williams, Babyface, and Sean Combs on several collaborations.
Russaw has now leveraged his valuable experience to co-found the company, Come Think Big. The organization believes in the healing power of cannabis and works towards its decriminalization and criminal justice reforms. Faith Evans and Todd Russaw first ran into each other in the course of their mutual involvement in the music industry in the 1990s.
They became good pals and after Evans left Smalls for good in 1997, they started dating. They welcomed their first child, Joshua, in 1998 and wed that same year. They subsequently settled down to family life in Matawan, New Jersey, with their son, as well as Evans’ son from her first marriage named Christopher Jr.
It Lasted For 12 Years and They Had Two Sons Together
The union between Evans and Russaw lasted for 12 years during which they welcomed another son named Ryder in 2008. They also collaborated professionally. Russaw produced about three of Evans’ albums namely The First Lady (2005), A Faithful Christmas (2005), and Something about Faith (2010) and they were all commercial successes. The couple nevertheless had their issues. Back in 2004, they were arrested for possession of marijuana and cocaine, as well as a tag violation during a traffic stop.
They escaped without any major consequences but by 2010, Evans was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. All these as well as other unknown factors put a lot of weight on the couple and by 2011, they filed for divorce. They described it as a difficult decision but maintained that they had given it much thought and careful consideration. They then promised to continue co-parenting their kids – Ryder and Joshua Russaw.
Faith Evans Began Dating Music Producer and Reality TV Star, Stevie J, in 2016 and They Got Married in 2018
Following her divorce from Todd Russaw, Faith Evans focused on her career and kids for the next few years. She did not embark on any other romance publicly until 2016 when she started going steady with Stevie J. – a Grammy-winning record producer, DJ, and reality TV star.
He first gained prominence as part of the in-house producers at Bad Boy Records in the 90s and won a Grammy in 1997 for his work on Sean Comb’s album, No Way Out. He has since produced songs for notable acts such as Eve, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Lil’ Kim. He has also featured in reality TV series such as Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta.
Faith Evans first got to know Stevie J as a result of their mutual connection to Bad Boy Records in the ’90s. Stevie even helped to produce the 1997 record, I’ll Be Missing You, which she dedicated to the memory of her late husband. They were thus very good friends and their friendship grew quite strong over the years.
They later began dating in the year 2016. Evans was initially hesitant about the romance because Stevie was quite the ladies’ man. He had developed a reputation as a playboy and his dramatic love life was often chronicled on reality TV. In fact, as of 2016, the record producer was involved in a turbulent relationship with his ex, Joselin Hernandez, and Evans wasn’t entirely sure that it was over between them.
She, therefore, stepped away from him until that part of his life was done and dusted. They then restarted their romance and went on to tie the knot in July 2018. The simple ceremony was held in their Las Vegas hotel room and featured family and friends. Stevie later tweeted “I love you Faith Renee Jordan” while the singer responded with “I love you back Steven Aaron Jordan”.
The union attracted positive reactions but several people were offended by the fact that Stevie had married his late pal’s widow. Others were more disappointed in Evans for agreeing to marry someone they saw as a serial cheater.
The Couple Called it Quits in 2021 After Two Years of Marriage
Faith Evans is presently single as her marriage with Stevie J. has crashed. The couple initially had some good times together in the first few months of their marriage. They collaborated on some music, including a joint appearance in a steamy music video for Evans’ 2018 song – A Minute.
They also appeared together on several reality TV shows such as Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and Leave It To Stevie. They later encountered some issues in their marriage. For instance, in 2019, they stopped following each other on social media and Stevie later tweeted cryptic posts such as “all that glitters is not gold” and “found out that no woman is faithful”. People took this as an obvious sign of trouble in the couple’s paradise but Stevie later claimed that his Twitter account was hacked and the issue died down.
Fast-forward to 2020, the couple engaged in a verbal argument at their L.A. home. It lasted for some time and later turned violent. The cops were called in and Faith was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence. She and Stevie were able to sort it out between themselves and the charges were dropped.
They continued their marriage until Stevie J filed for divorce on the 8th of November 2021. The process of divorce is still ongoing and no one can predict whether it will be amicable or not. The couple is still following each other on social media and has even shared a video of themselves hanging out at the beach together days after the divorce filing.
This sparked rumors of reconciliation but all indications show that they are still heading down the divorce lane and may squabble over finances. In his filing, Stevie J listed their date of separation as October 2021 and asked for spousal support. He also asked the court not to award spousal support to Evans but rather order her to foot the legal costs. Evans responded in December 2021 and listed their date of separation as May 2020. She asked the judge to decline Stevie’s request for spousal support. She also asked to retain all the property that she acquired before the marriage and after the date of separation.
