Was Biggie Married? Yes - to Faith Evans
The Notorious B.I.G. was married to Faith Evans. Christopher Wallace - Biggie Smalls - wed the R&B singer on August 4, 1994, in a ceremony that capped one of hip-hop's fastest courtships: they had met just eight days earlier at a Bad Boy Records promotional photoshoot in June 1994.
Evans was 21 and a rising Bad Boy artist herself, fresh off singing hooks that would soon define the label's sound. Wallace was 22, months away from releasing Ready to Die - the debut album that would make him the king of East Coast rap. Their marriage united two of the most talented young artists in 1990s R&B and hip-hop, and it lasted until Wallace's murder on March 9, 1997, at age 24.
The marriage was passionate, turbulent, and conducted almost entirely in the public eye of the hip-hop world. Evans later wrote and spoke candidly about infidelity on both sides, separations, and reconciliations - but also about a deep love. She was the woman he called his wife, the mother of his son, and the voice on the tribute that defined his afterlife.
Who Is Faith Evans, Biggie's Wife?
Faith Renée Evans, born June 10, 1973, in Lakeland, Florida, was one of the defining R&B voices of the 1990s. Raised in Newark, New Jersey, she sang in church, studied at Fordham University on a scholarship, and worked as a backing vocalist for Mary J. Blige and others before Sean "Puffy" Combs signed her to Bad Boy Records in 1994 - the same year she met Wallace.
Her debut album Faith (1995) went platinum on the strength of hits like "Soon as I Get Home" and "Love Like This." But she became globally famous for something else: "I'll Be Missing You" (1997), the Puff Daddy tribute to Biggie built on the Police's "Every Breath You Take," featuring Evans's soaring chorus. It was the best-selling single of 1997 worldwide and won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Evans has released eight studio albums across three decades, won a Grammy, and written the memoir Keep the Faith (2008), which detailed her marriage to Wallace with unflinching honesty. She later married record executive Todd Russaw (1998-2011), with whom she had two sons, and then producer Stevie J (2018-2023). Through it all, she has remained the keeper of Biggie's romantic legacy - the widow of hip-hop's greatest love story.
Eight Days: How Biggie and Faith Met and Married
The story, as both told it: June 1994, a Bad Boy photoshoot. Evans was there as the label's new R&B signee; Wallace was the rapper everyone was betting on. He asked for her number. She gave it. Eight days later - August 4, 1994 - they were married.
It was impulsive even by celebrity standards, and the hip-hop world was stunned. But those close to them said the connection was immediate and genuine. Wallace, who had grown up without a father in Brooklyn, was drawn to Evans's warmth and stability; Evans was drawn to his humor, intelligence, and ambition. They moved fast because, in their telling, they simply knew.
The marriage began during the most exciting months of Wallace's life: Ready to Die was released on September 13, 1994 - five weeks after the wedding - and debuted to acclaim that quickly turned into canonization. "Juicy," "Big Poppa," and "One More Chance" made him a star. Evans was building her own career simultaneously. For a brief window, they were hip-hop's golden couple - young, talented, and on top of the world.
The Turbulence: Separations and Reconciliations
The marriage was never easy. Both partners have acknowledged infidelity - Wallace's affairs were an open secret in the industry, and Evans later admitted her own. They separated multiple times during their less-than-three years of marriage, with Evans filing for space and Wallace pursuing reconciliation in cycles familiar to anyone who has loved intensely and badly at 22.
The East Coast-West Coast feud added unbearable pressure. As Wallace's rivalry with Tupac Shakur escalated through 1995 and 1996 - with Tupac publicly claiming an affair with Evans, a claim she has always denied - the marriage became collateral damage in hip-hop's deadliest war. Evans found herself at the center of diss tracks and magazine stories, a position no 23-year-old asks for.
And yet: they never divorced. Through every separation, they came back. Their son, Christopher Jordan Wallace Jr. - "C.J." - was born on October 29, 1996, less than five months before Wallace's death. Friends said fatherhood changed Wallace; he was reportedly trying to be present, trying to get it right. The marriage that began in eight days was, at the end, the real thing - flawed, fierce, and unfinished.
His Children: Tyanna and C.J.
Biggie had two children. His daughter, Tyanna Wallace, was born on August 8, 1993, to his high school girlfriend Jan Jackson - before he met Evans, and before Ready to Die made him famous. Wallace promised his infant daughter "everything she wanted," telling friends that the support he lacked as a child would not be lacking for her.
His son, Christopher Wallace Jr., was born October 29, 1996, to Faith Evans. C.J. was four months old when his father was murdered. He has grown up as hip-hop royalty - acting (he played young Biggie in Notorious, 2009), DJing, and managing his father's estate alongside his mother and sister.
Evans raised C.J. as a single mother in the glare of the industry's most mythologized widowhood. Both children have spoken about growing up in the shadow of a legend they barely knew - Tyanna was 3 when he died, C.J. an infant - and about their mother's determination to give them normal lives.
After March 9, 1997: The Widow's Story
Wallace was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, at 24. Evans, 23, was suddenly the most famous widow in music. "I'll Be Missing You" - recorded with Puff Daddy and 112 - became the anthem of his mourning, spending 11 weeks at No. 1 and becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Evans's grief was public and prolonged. She has spoken about the guilt, the what-ifs, the difficulty of dating again while the world watched. Her memoir detailed the marriage's final months - the separations, the hope of reconciliation, the phone call in March 1997 that ended everything.
She also became a crucial figure in preserving his legacy: the 2017 duets album The King & I, executive-produced with the estate, paired her vocals with unreleased Biggie verses - a collaboration across death. Nearly three decades after the eight-day courtship, Faith Evans remains, in the public imagination, Biggie's wife: the woman at the center of the shortest, most mythologized marriage in hip-hop history.
The Feud's Shadow Over the Marriage
Biggie and Faith's marriage unfolded under the darkest cloud in hip-hop history: the East Coast-West Coast feud. As Wallace's rivalry with Tupac Shakur escalated through 1995 and 1996, Evans became a pawn in rap's deadliest war. Tupac's Hit 'Em Up (1996) infamously claimed an affair with Evans, a claim she has always denied, but which put a 23-year-old woman at the center of a conflict between armed camps.
The pressure was unimaginable: diss tracks, magazine covers, entourage tensions, and the constant low hum of potential violence. Wallace, by many accounts, was trying to de-escalate in his final months, tired of the beef and focused on the music and his newborn son. Evans has described those months as terrifying and surreal: married to the biggest rapper alive, mother to an infant, watching the industry around them spiral.
When Wallace was murdered in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, six months after Tupac's own murder, Evans was 23 and a widow. The feud that had poisoned their marriage ended up defining its aftermath: two widows, two legends, and a war nobody won. I'll Be Missing You was not just a tribute; it was the closing chapter of hip-hop's most tragic love story.
The Feud's Shadow Over the Marriage
Biggie and Faith's marriage unfolded under the darkest cloud in hip-hop history: the East Coast-West Coast feud. As Wallace's rivalry with Tupac Shakur escalated through 1995 and 1996, Evans became a pawn in rap's deadliest war. Tupac's Hit 'Em Up (1996) infamously claimed an affair with Evans, a claim she has always denied, but which put a 23-year-old woman at the center of a conflict between armed camps.
The pressure was unimaginable: diss tracks, magazine covers, entourage tensions, and the constant low hum of potential violence. Wallace, by many accounts, was trying to de-escalate in his final months, tired of the beef and focused on the music and his newborn son. Evans has described those months as terrifying and surreal: married to the biggest rapper alive, mother to an infant, watching the industry around them spiral.
When Wallace was murdered in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, six months after Tupac's own murder, Evans was 23 and a widow. The feud that had poisoned their marriage ended up defining its aftermath: two widows, two legends, and a war nobody won. I'll Be Missing You was not just a tribute; it was the closing chapter of hip-hop's most tragic love story.
The Feud's Shadow Over the Marriage
Biggie and Faith's marriage unfolded under the darkest cloud in hip-hop history: the East Coast-West Coast feud. As Wallace's rivalry with Tupac Shakur escalated through 1995 and 1996, Evans became a pawn in rap's deadliest war. Tupac's Hit 'Em Up (1996) infamously claimed an affair with Evans, a claim she has always denied, but which put a 23-year-old woman at the center of a conflict between armed camps.
The pressure was unimaginable: diss tracks, magazine covers, entourage tensions, and the constant low hum of potential violence. Wallace, by many accounts, was trying to de-escalate in his final months, tired of the beef and focused on the music and his newborn son. Evans has described those months as terrifying and surreal: married to the biggest rapper alive, mother to an infant, watching the industry around them spiral.
When Wallace was murdered in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, six months after Tupac's own murder, Evans was 23 and a widow. The feud that had poisoned their marriage ended up defining its aftermath: two widows, two legends, and a war nobody won. I'll Be Missing You was not just a tribute; it was the closing chapter of hip-hop's most tragic love story.
The Feud's Shadow Over the Marriage
Biggie and Faith's marriage unfolded under the darkest cloud in hip-hop history: the East Coast-West Coast feud. As Wallace's rivalry with Tupac Shakur escalated through 1995 and 1996, Evans became a pawn in rap's deadliest war. Tupac's Hit 'Em Up (1996) infamously claimed an affair with Evans, a claim she has always denied, but which put a 23-year-old woman at the center of a conflict between armed camps.
The pressure was unimaginable: diss tracks, magazine covers, entourage tensions, and the constant low hum of potential violence. Wallace, by many accounts, was trying to de-escalate in his final months, tired of the beef and focused on the music and his newborn son. Evans has described those months as terrifying and surreal: married to the biggest rapper alive, mother to an infant, watching the industry around them spiral.
When Wallace was murdered in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997, six months after Tupac's own murder, Evans was 23 and a widow. The feud that had poisoned their marriage ended up defining its aftermath: two widows, two legends, and a war nobody won. I'll Be Missing You was not just a tribute; it was the closing chapter of hip-hop's most tragic love story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the Notorious B.I.G. married?
Yes. He married R&B singer Faith Evans on August 4, 1994. The marriage lasted until his murder on March 9, 1997.
Who was Biggie's wife?
Faith Evans, the R&B singer. They met in June 1994 at a Bad Boy Records photoshoot and married eight days later.
How did Biggie and Faith Evans meet?
At a Bad Boy Records promotional photoshoot in June 1994. He asked for her number; they married on August 4, 1994.
How many kids did the Notorious B.I.G. have?
Two: daughter Tyanna Wallace (born 1993) with Jan Jackson, and son Christopher Wallace Jr. (born 1996) with Faith Evans.
How long were Biggie and Faith Evans married?
Under three years - from August 4, 1994, until his death on March 9, 1997. They separated several times but never divorced.
Did Faith Evans remarry after Biggie died?
Yes. She married Todd Russaw (1998-2011), with whom she had two sons, and later Stevie J (2018-2023).
What is I'll Be Missing You?
The 1997 Puff Daddy tribute to Biggie featuring Faith Evans and 112 - the best-selling single of 1997 and winner of the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
How old was Biggie when he married Faith Evans?
He was 22 and she was 21. He died at 24, less than three years later.