Constantine Maroulis

Both his maternal and his paternal grandparents emigrated to the United States from Greece in the 1920s.

He was brought up in the Greek Orthodoxy and he can speak Greek.

Maroulis was born in Brooklyn, New York to Greek American parents, James Constantine and Constance P. Maroulis (born 1938).

His older brother, Athan Maroulis (born 1964), is a record producer and his sister, Anastacia P. Maroulis (born 1968), is a school principal.

When Maroulis was five years old his family moved to Wyckoff, New Jersey, a suburb in Bergen County, NJ, where he grew up.

At that time he developed an interest in music, following the lead of his older brother.

By age eleven he was studying the trumpet at Eisenhower Middle School.

He later sang in high school garage bands, including Lady Rain and Milkbone.

Constantine James Maroulis (born September 17, 1975) is an American actor and rock singer.

He was the sixth-place finalist on the fourth season of the reality television series American Idol, and received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in Rock of Ages.

He starred in the title role in Jekyll and Hyde on Broadway, for which he received a Drama League Award Nomination for a Distinguished Performance Award.

Maroulis graduated from Ramapo High School in 1993.

He and received a B.F.A. in Music Theater from Boston Conservatory.

He was in the cast recording of the 2000 musical, Suburban Dreams, which was produced by composer Stephen Thompson, Richard Kenner, and Jesse Merz.

Some years before appearing on American Idol, Maroulis competed on the dating show Elimidate and was an extra in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and a voice-over artist on the Astro Boy.

He appeared in a number of off-Broadway roles from the Conservatory, along with a series of independent films.

After graduating from the Conservatory, Maroulis trained as an acting apprentice at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and performed as Roger Davis in the Broadway international touring company of Rent. His role as Roger was non-equity.

Since he had no agent representing him at that time, he was allowed to appear on American Idol.

Maroulis became the lead vocalist of Pray for the Soul of Betty in 2003, after winning over 150 auditioners.

The band rose to national attention when Maroulis appeared on Idol.

His audition clip showed him "quitting" the band amongst the displeasure of one of his bandmates, which they have claimed is an inaccurate portrayal.

In August 2004, acting upon his then-girlfriend's suggestion, Maroulis traveled to Washington DC to audition for fourth season of American Idol.

For the 2005 season, Idol producers changed the age range of contestants from 16–24 to 16–28.

Along with Bo Bice, Maroulis was one of the first contestants to benefit from this change.

Maroulis and Bice are also notable for being among the first contestants to compete using the rock idiom.

On April 27, 2005, Maroulis was eliminated from American Idol after he performed Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" during the 2000s music round.

Less than a week before his elimination, Maroulis's pre-Idol band, Pray for the Soul of Betty, announced the 10 May release of their self-titled debut on their label, Baby Julius.

Maroulis was featured on the American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers compilation with "My Funny Valentine".

His rendition of the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" earned him the praise of judges.

At the personal invitation of Queen's guitarist Brian May, Maroulis later recorded a studio version of the track for Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen, which was released on August 9, 2005 on Queen's label, Hollywood Records.

In November and December 2005, Maroulis performed solo shows in Manila, Philippines and New Jersey, USA.

His set list included songs he had performed previously in his theatre roles, from Hedwig and the Angry Inch Rent, and Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as from his stint on American Idol.

On March 20, 2006, after three years with the band, Maroulis announced his departure due to creative and business differences.

In August 2006, Constantine completed a solo tour of 13 cities, where he debuted material to be featured on his upcoming CD, including various self-penned compositions.

Maroulis created his own independent label, Sixth place Records, a branch of Sixth place Productions, which released his 2-years-in-the-making solo album, Constantine on August 7, 2007.

Maroulis' self-titled CD consisted of 12 tracks, and debuted at number 75 on the Billboard charts.

He has sung the Anthem at additional sporting events, including at the Reality All-Star Soccer Festival (organized by Survivor: Africa winner, Ethan Zohn) in April 2007, as well as before the start of a 49ers/Bengals football game at Monster Stadium, San Francisco in December 2007.

The performance was hailed by commentator Bryant Gumbel as "a stirring performance."

Maroulis has also performed the Anthem at Madison Square Garden in April 2009, and he performed God Bless America at the 2009 Men's U.S. Open.

Maroulis performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 2013 Opening Day festivities for the New York Yankees.