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