Jacintha Abisheganaden

About

Famous for studio albums such as Lush Life, Tropicana, and Jacintha is Her Name, this Singaporean bossa nova and jazz vocalist is also notable for her work as a stage actress. In the mid-1980s, she helped found a performance company called TheatreWorks in her native Singapore.

Before Fame

After earning a bachelor's degree in English from the National University of Singapore, she undertook creative writing coursework at Harvard University. She began her music career after winning a televised Singaporean competition called Talentime.

Trivia

She judged Season Two of Singapore Idol.

Family Life

She grew up in Singapore as the daughter of a Sri-Lankan-born, award-winning guitarist father named Alex Abisheganaden and a Chinese pianist and singer mother. Her three marriages -- to American attorney David Scheffer, singer Dick Lee, and journalist Koh Boon Pin (with whom she had a child named Alexander) -- all ended in divorce.

Associated With

In the late 1990s, she released a debut jazz recording titled Here's To Ben - A Vocal Tribute To Ben Webster.