Faith Evans - Merry Christmas Baby - The Tyra Show 2005

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure! and Christopher Williams, she became the first female artist to contract with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records in 1994 at age 20. On the label, she featured on records with several label mates such as 112 and Carl Thomas, and released three platinum-certified studio albums between 1995 and 2001: Faith (1995) and Keep the Faith (1998), and Faithfully (2001).In 2012, Evans co-executive produced and became a cast member on the TV One reality show R&B Divas: Atlanta alongside fellow R&B singers Nicci Gilbert, Syleena Johnson, Keke Wyatt and Monifah.[31] The show offered an inside look at how the singers balance their music careers and personal lives as they work towards producing an Evans-led compilation album, R&B Divas (2012), in memory of Whitney Houston. Broadcast to rating records for the network,[32] the series produced a spin-off titled R&B Divas: Los Angeles and was renewed for two further seasons. Evans, who left the show following its second season, earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album at the 55th awards ceremonyFaith Evans said that some of her biggest musical influences and favourite singers are gospel singer Karen Clark-Sheard (whom she has been often likened to), Shirley Murdock,[60] Chaka Khan, Anita Baker and Aretha Franklin.[61]

Evans is noted for her "urban-edged honeyed soprano."[62][63] Her vocal range extends from the low note of C#3 to high soprano C#6 .[64] The Washington Post writer Craig Seymour called her "angelic yet hearty soprano" as showcasing emotion that is defined by Evans' personal experiences of tragedy, love, pain and heartbreak.