Justin Guarini

About Justin Guarini

Justin Guarini (born Justin Eldrin Bell on October 28, 1978 in Columbus, Georgia) is an American singer/songwriter, actor who rose to fame in 2002 as the first runner-up on the debut season of the television show American Idol.

His father, Eldrin Bell, is a former Atlanta Chief of Police. His mother, Kathy Pepino Guarini, was a journalist for WTVM TV in Columbus, and later for CNN. Guarini was raised by his mother and stepfather Jerry Guarini, a physicist, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Guarini's music career started at the age of four when accepted by the Atlanta Boy Choir acclaimed for its established reputation as one of the world’s finest boy choirs. After moving to Pennsylvania in 1985, he joined the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Boys Choir. Throughout his school years Guarini sang in school choirs, and in 1996-2000 was the lead soloist in an award winning a cappella group named The Midnight Voices. The group released an independent album in 1999 with proceeds benefiting a music scholarship fund at Guarini's alma mater Central Bucks East High School in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. As director/performer at the Riverside Haunted Woods in Bridgeton, Pennsylvania in 2001, he directed over 50 actors in productions, wrote musical scores, performed, and helped build the 25 sets used.