Justin Guarini was born on Justin Eldrin Bell; October 28,1978 and is an American singer, songwriter and actor who in 2002 was the runner-up on the first season of American Idol.
21 Facts About Justin Guarini
2.
Justin Guarini's father, Eldrin Bell, is African-American and is a former Atlanta, Georgia, Chief of Police, and former chairperson of the Clayton County Commission in Clayton County, Georgia.
3.
Justin Guarini's mother, Kathy Pepino Guarini, is Italian American, and was a journalist for WTVM TV in Columbus, and later for CNN.
4.
Justin Guarini worked in New York nightclubs, and auditioned for New York Theatre before successfully auditioning for American Idol in April 2002.
5.
Justin Guarini was considering a contract offer from an independent record label, but the show's rules prohibited participants from having existing record contracts.
6.
Idol judge Simon Cowell praised Guarini's performance in the show's first season, at one early audition telling him "Justin, you know, occasionally you're very privileged when you do a competition like this to hear somebody undiscovered who has a voice like yours", with Guarini ultimately becoming the runner-up to winner Kelly Clarkson in September 2002.
7.
Justin Guarini's performance landed Guarini an offer to continue the role in the original Broadway production, which he eventually declined.
8.
Justin Guarini co-produced his second album Stranger Things Have Happened, independently released in December 2005 through his own production company, Justice Entertainment, Ltd.
9.
In May 2008, Justin Guarini released an acoustic EP titled Revolve comprising three songs co-written and co-produced with Shaun Ingram.
10.
Justin Guarini became a part of the Broadway community with his 2010 Broadway debut as Carlos in a musical adaptation of Pedro Almodovar's film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
11.
Justin Guarini played Will, one of the three male leads in Green Day's rock musical American Idiot performing March 1,2011, through the show's closing night, April 24,2011.
12.
Justin Guarini's second child was born on February 25,2013.
13.
In 2013, Justin Guarini was cast in a modern Broadway production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as Paris.
14.
Justin Guarini joined the Broadway production of Wicked, in the role of Fiyero from February 25 to December 14,2014.
15.
Also in 2016, Justin Guarini was cast in Broadway's new In Transit, the first a cappella musical with book, music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth.
16.
Justin Guarini was an executive producer for the 2015 revival of the musical Side Show.
17.
In 2016, Justin Guarini attended the Tony Awards, and co-hosted backstage coverage of the live broadcast in conjunction with BroadwayHD.
18.
Since 2015, Justin Guarini has been starring as Lil' Sweet in Diet Dr Pepper television commercials, and web marketing.
19.
In 2016 Justin Guarini released his exclusive 17 track EP "JG" via PledgeMusic.
20.
In 2021, Justin Guarini starred as Prince Charming in the world premiere of the jukebox musical Once Upon a One More Time.
21.
Justin Guarini has been cast to reprise the role when the musical transfers to Broadway's Marquis Theatre in May 2023.