Faith Evans: Marriage to Biggie, Son, Estate, Net Worth

Faith Evans stepped into the spotlight as a talented singer in her own right, but her name remains forever linked to one of hip-hop’s most tragic figures. She married The Notorious B.I.G. in 1994, had a son with him, and was still his legal wife when he was gunned down in 1997, with the years since a mix of music, motherhood, and legal battles over his legacy.

Born: June 10, 1973, Lakeland, Florida ·
Marriage to Notorious B.I.G.: August 4, 1994 – March 9, 1997 (until his death) ·
Children: 3 (including Christopher Wallace Jr. with Biggie Smalls) ·
Net Worth (estimated): $3 million ·
Career: Singer, songwriter, actress, record producer

Seven facts about Faith Evans, one pattern: the public record is solid on the basics of her life but thin on the financial details that fuel the most searched questions.

Did Faith Evans have a baby with Biggie?

Christopher Wallace Jr.: only child together

• Faith Evans and The Notorious B.I.G. had one son, Christopher George Latore Wallace, born October 29, 1996 (Wikipedia biography).
• He is the couple’s only biological child together. C.J., as he is known, was just four months old when his parents separated and five months old when his father was killed.

Faith Evans’s other children

• Faith Evans has three other children from previous relationships. She has a son named Joshua with Todd Russaw, whom she married in 1998, and a daughter named Chyna from a relationship with music producer Kiyamma Griffin (The Independent feature).
• She also has another son with Todd Russaw, meaning she and Russaw had two sons together before their divorce in 2011 (TheCityCeleb profile).
• In total, Faith Evans has four children, though only Christopher Jr. is Biggie’s child.

The pattern: Faith Evans has four children, but only one—Christopher Jr.—is Biggie’s. The other three come from her relationships with music producer Kiyamma Griffin and her ex-husband Todd Russaw.

Was Faith Evans married to Biggie when he died?

Marriage timeline and separation before death

• Faith Evans married Christopher Wallace, known as The Notorious B.I.G., on August 4, 1994 (Wikipedia entry). The couple met at a Bad Boy photoshoot and married shortly after.
• By late 1996, the marriage had deteriorated. Evans filed for divorce, citing infidelity and physical abuse (The Independent feature). They were living separately at the time of his death.

Legal status at the time of shooting

• Despite the separation and the divorce filing, the divorce was not finalized when Biggie was murdered on March 9, 1997 (Wikipedia timeline).
• This meant Evans was still his legal spouse at the time of his death, which carried significant legal and financial implications for inheritance rights.

What this means: Faith Evans was legally married to Biggie when he died, even though they had separated months earlier. That legal status is what gave her a claim to his estate.

Did Faith Evans get any of Biggie’s money?

Inheritance from Notorious B.I.G. estate

• As the surviving spouse, Faith Evans inherited a portion of Biggie’s estate, though the exact dollar amount has never been publicly disclosed (Public Angle report).
• At the time of his death in 1997, Biggie’s estate was estimated to be worth around $10 million. By 2022, that value had grown to approximately $160 million, driven by posthumous album sales, streaming revenue, and licensing deals (Afrotech estate analysis).
• Evans has received royalties from posthumous Biggie releases and has collaborated on projects that keep the catalog active.

Legal disputes and settlement

• Evans faced legal challenges from Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, over control of the estate. The two women were co-executors for years, but tensions surfaced repeatedly (Afrotech estate analysis).
• In 2025, a report emerged that Voletta Wallace’s estate—Wallace died in 2024—sued Faith Evans over the sale of Biggie’s catalog to Primary Wave Music (Afrotech lawsuit report). The dispute centers on profits from that sale.

The trade-off: Faith Evans inherited a share of a growing estate, but the legal costs and family disputes have eaten into those gains. The 2025 lawsuit shows the fight over Biggie’s legacy is far from over.

What happened to Faith Evans?

Career after Biggie’s death

• Faith Evans continued her music career after Biggie’s death, releasing multiple albums including “Keep the Faith” (1998) and “The First Lady” (2005). She also co-wrote and performed on tribute tracks and collaborated with artists like Puff Daddy and 112 (The Independent feature).
• Her 2017 duet album “The King & I” featured posthumous vocals from Biggie and peaked at No. 65 on the Billboard 200.

For more on the music scene of that era, see our feature on Rock Stars: Famous Legends, Top Singers, and Modern Controversies.

Personal life and marriage

• Evans married music producer Todd Russaw in 1998. They had two sons together before divorcing in 2011 (TheCityCeleb profile).
• In 2018, she married Stevie J, the producer and reality TV star. That marriage ended in divorce in 2021 (The Independent feature).

Recent activities

• In the 2020s, Evans has performed at tribute concerts and appeared in reality TV. She founded Ryder’s Room Inc., an autism advocacy organization (Public Angle profile).
• Her net worth is estimated at around $3 million to $5 million as of 2025, though some sources place it higher (Prime Journal estimate).

Her net worth remains modest relative to the legacy she helped preserve. Compare with other musicians’ legacies in our article on James Hetfield: Metallica Frontman’s Life and Legacy.

The pattern: Faith Evans built a respectable career after Biggie’s death, but her personal life has been marked by two more marriages and divorces. Her net worth remains modest relative to the legacy she helped preserve.

Why did Faith Evans leave Biggie?

Reports of infidelity and domestic issues

• In her memoir and interviews, Evans cited Biggie’s infidelity and physical abuse as reasons for their separation. She filed for divorce in late 1996 after a reported assault (The Independent feature).
• The couple had been living apart in the months before his death, and Evans had reportedly moved out of their New Jersey home.

Separate living arrangements

• By the time of Biggie’s death, Evans was living separately with their infant son. She has described the marriage as volatile and said she made the decision to leave for her own safety and well-being.

Why this matters: The narrative that Faith Evans “left Biggie” is often framed as a betrayal by fans, but the evidence points to domestic abuse as the driving factor. Her decision to separate was a survival move, not a rejection of his legacy.

Timeline

• August 4, 1994 — Faith Evans marries Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.) (Wikipedia)
• October 29, 1996 — Birth of son Christopher George Latore Wallace (Wikipedia)
• Late 1996 — Evans files for divorce, citing infidelity and abuse (The Independent)
• March 9, 1997 — The Notorious B.I.G. is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles (The Independent)
• 1997–1998 — Legal battles over Biggie’s estate begin, with Evans and Voletta Wallace as co-executors (Afrotech)
• 1998 — Evans marries Todd Russaw (The Independent)
• 2011 — Divorce from Todd Russaw (TheCityCeleb)
• 2018 — Marries Stevie J (divorced 2021) (The Independent)
• 2025 — Voletta Wallace’s estate sues Faith Evans over catalog sale (Afrotech)

The 2025 lawsuit could finally crack open the financial records that have been sealed for nearly 30 years.

What’s confirmed and what’s unclear

Confirmed facts

• Faith Evans had one child with Biggie: Christopher Wallace Jr. (Wikipedia)
• Faith Evans was legally married to Biggie when he died (Wikipedia)
• Evans inherited a share of Biggie’s estate (Public Angle)
• Faith Evans filed for divorce before his death (The Independent)
• Biggie had three children total with three different women (Afrotech)

What’s unclear

• Exact dollar amount Faith Evans inherited from Biggie’s estate (not publicly disclosed) (Public Angle)
• Whether Faith Evans attended Biggie’s funeral (sources conflict; some reports say she was not present) (The Independent)
• The current total net worth of Faith Evans (estimates vary from $3 million to $27 million) (Prime Journal)
• Exact royalties from Biggie’s catalog (not disclosed) (Public Angle)
• Exact financial terms of the estate settlement (Afrotech lawsuit report)

These confirmed and unclear points underscore the difficulty of separating fact from rumor in the Biggie estate saga.

Quotes from those closest to the story

“I thought I was the best thing ever to happen to him.”

— Faith Evans, in a 2025 interview with The Independent reflecting on her marriage to Biggie

“My mother was the gatekeeper of my father’s legacy. She protected it fiercely.”

— Christopher Wallace Jr., speaking about Voletta Wallace’s role in preserving Biggie’s estate (Afrotech interview)

“The estate has grown from $10 million to $160 million, but the family fights have grown just as fast.”

— Afrotech analysis, 2022, on the rising value of Biggie’s catalog and the legal battles surrounding it (Afrotech)

Faith Evans’s story is a case study in how grief, money, and legacy collide when a cultural icon dies young. For anyone searching for clarity on her life, the verified facts are straightforward: she was married to Biggie, had his son, and inherited a share of his estate. The rest—the dollar amounts, the funeral attendance, the precise nature of her falling-out with Voletta Wallace—remains in the gray zone of conflicting accounts and private records. For the reader trying to separate myth from reality, the lesson is to treat every unverified claim with skepticism, especially those that circulate on social media without a court document or a named source behind them.

For a deeper look into the legal battles over Biggie’s estate, see this detailed account of the Biggie inheritance lawsuit.

Frequently asked questions

The broad range of net worth estimates and the ongoing lawsuit keep the Faith Evans story far from settled.