Joss Stone (born Joscelyn Eve Stoker in Dover, United Kingdom on April 11, 1987) is an English soul singer whose throaty style of singing was influenced by early Motown singers. Her debut album, The Soul Sessions, consists of classic soul tracks by Betty Wright, Aretha Franklin, Laura Lee and Bettye Swann and was released in late 2003. It reached the top 5 in the UK albums chart, and also made the top forty of the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.