Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1968 in South Orange, New Jersey) is a Grammy-nominated American jazz vocalist, who debuted in 1997 with Close Your Eyes. Kent attended Newark Academy in Livingston, New Jersey. She graduated with a Degree in Comparative Literature from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and moved to England after her graduation. While studying at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she met tenor saxophonist, Jim Tomlinson, whom she married on 9 Aug 1991.