A regent, from the Latin regens, "[one] reigning", or regency council is a person or group of persons selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. The period of rule of a regent or regents is referred to as a regency.

In a monarchy, a regent usually governs due to one of these reasons, but may also be elected to rule during the interregnum when the royal line has died out. This was the case in Finland and Hungary, where the royal line was considered extinct in the aftermath of World War I. In Iceland, the regent represented the King of Denmark as sovereign of Iceland until the country became a republic in 1944.

In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795), kings were elective, which often led to a fairly long interregnum. In the interim, it was the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Primate (the Archbishop of Vilnius) who served as the regent, termed the "interrex" (Latin: ruler "between kings" as in ancient Rome).

In the small republic of San Marino, the two Captains Regent, or Capitani Reggenti, are elected semi-annually (they serve a six-month term) as joint heads of state and of government.

The Regents were an American doo-wop vocal group from New York, operating in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

They are best known for writing and recording the hit "Barbara Ann" in 1961, which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. (It was covered by the Beach Boys in 1965 on their album, Beach Boys' Party!; this version when released as a single made #2.) The Regents also had a second chart hit with "Runaround", which hit #28 later in 1961.

They formed in The Bronx, New York, in 1959. Group members included Guy Villari on lead; Sal Cuomo, first tenor; Chuck Fassert, second tenor; Tony Gravagna, sax player/baritone; Don Jacobucci on bass.

An earlier version of the group from 1957 was called The Monterays, and included Villari, Cuomo, Fassert and Ernie Maresca (who later had a hit with "Shout, Shout — Knock Yourself Out", and also wrote songs such as the Regent's "Runaround" and "The Wanderer" recorded by Dion).

The group recorded demos in Bell Sound, Associated, and Regent Sound studios. They were signed to Seville Records as The Desires, however, none of the songs they recorded were released, until the group had success three years later as The Regents. The Regents' name came from a combination of recording a demo at Regent Sound studio, and the fact that Villari smoked Regents cigarettes.