Faith Evans

The angelic choir heavily featured in "I'll Be Missing You" is a fitting tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G., whose passing was commemorated in the song. The P. Diddy tune is more or less a reworking of the Police's "I'll Be Watching You," and features Evans and the band 112. "Can't Believe," featuring Carl Thomas, was nominated for a GRAMMY®; and her duet with Eric Benet, covering Toto's "Georgy Porgy," is magnetic.

Though she's best known for doing the Quiet Storm thing, "Mesmerized" proves Faith Evans can fill a dance floor with a hi-NRG groove. The original version of the tune came from her debut Capitol Records album, The First Lady, and was originally a slower, funk-laced track before the Freemasons' remix. Evans' cover of Rose Royce's "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" is extraordinarily faithful to the original, but she sure sounds good.

As you get deeper into her catalog, you'll begin to appreciate what people first recognized about Faith Evans: When away from center stage, she's an excellent collaborator. Whether it's on the slightly potty-mouth B.I.G. track "Living the Life" or with fellow ex-backup singer Kelly Price on "Sister," Evans' soulful pipes blend flawlessly with both male and female vocalists.

The woman who will forever be linked in public memory with the Notorious B.I.G. started her career in the shadows, writing and singing backup vocals for the likes of Mary J. Blige, Al B. Sure!, and Pebbles. At the age of 22, she released her first album on Bad Boy, the label started by Sean "Puff Daddy/P.Diddy/Diddy" Combs. That same year she also met her husband-to-be, Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G. In 1996, she had a son, and the following year, during a period of estrangement, Wallace was murdered in Los Angeles. Her career has continued since his death, her most recent album, The First Lady, hitting #1 on the R&B charts.