Faith Evans Reflects on Being Estranged From The Notorious B.I.G. at the Time of His Murder

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the death of hip hop icon, The Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie. The rapper is lauded as one of the greatest voices in hip hop history. At the time of his death, Biggie was married to Faith Evans. Though they were not on the best of terms, Evans has played a major role in keeping Biggie’s legacy alive.

The couple were not on speaking terms at the time of Biggie’s murder

Evans and Biggie’s relationship was riddled with cheating on Biggie’s end. But after Biggie’s former friend turned rival released “Hit Em Up,” a diss track that alleged Tupac Shakur slept with Evans, Biggie and Evans’ relationship grew even more rocky. They tried to rekindle things during Christmas 1996 as Evans detailed in her memoir Keep The Faith, but she found out the rapper was still seeing other women. 

Evans became pregnant with the couple’s son, and Biggie publicly denied that he was the father. They split a final time and Evans began dating another man, Todd Russau. Still, there was clear love between the two.

In a 2019 episode of Evans’ TV One’s Uncensored special, she revealed details of her last run-in with Biggie. They attended the same party at the Peterson Automotive Museum in L.A. Friends in Evans’ entourage spotted Biggie and asked Evans if she would go and speak him, which she denied.

Biggie sent one of his close friends to get Evans’ attention. “He made sure he sent Cease over to where me and my friends were,” she said. “He [Cease] said that B.I.G. said what’s up to me and I told him to tell him [B.I.G.] the same.” After leaving the party, she heard of a nearby shooting and that Biggie was injured. 

She’s happy she was in L.A. at the time of his death

Unfortunately, when Evans arrived at the hospital, she was informed that Biggie didn’t make it.  She immediately stepped into wife mode and had the difficult task of identifying his body at the coroner’s office. Evans also made the call to her mother-in-law to break the painful news and helped to plan Biggie’s memorial service.

Evans recently spoke to People Magazine to recount the feelings of that fateful day of Biggie’s death, calling it “crushing.” “Although we were separated, we had a 5-month-old baby,” she said. “And it was obviously so unexpected. We didn’t know or expect that to happen. We definitely felt like, ‘OK, come back home,’ just because of all the little weird things that were being whispered and things that happened prior to his death.”

Looking back, she’s happy that regardless of the turmoil, she was able to be present in some aspect for his final moments. “Once I was able to not think gray all the time, I was definitely thankful that I was in L.A. that weekend,” she said. “But to even be able to come into the hospital. Of course, I would have loved to have seen him, and just wanted to hold his hand. I literally was hoping and thinking, ‘If I go in there and talk to him, he’s going to be OK.’”

How Faith Evans has paid tribute to Biggie since his death

Just two months after Biggie’s death, Evans teamed up with Biggie’s friend and mentor, Diddy, to memorialize him via song. In May 1997, they released a tribute single, “I’ll Be Missing You.” The song samples the Police’s 1983 hit single, “Every Breath You Take.” It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

In 2017, Evans released a collaborative project featuring songs with Biggie in an album titled The King & I. She also works closely with his estate on a variety of projects.

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