Sanjaya Malakar was born in the Seattle metropolitan area in the large suburb of Federal Way, the son of a Bengali Indian father, Vasudeva Malakar, who had emigrated to the United States as a Hare Krishna pujari (priest), and an Italian American mother Jillian Recchi Blyth, who are both followers of the Vaishnava Hinduism. His parents filed for divorce when he was three years old and had been separated for a year prior to filing for divorce. When the divorce was filed, the family had almost no money coming in. His mother and the children were living in a Seattle apartment, and her only income was from welfare. His mother remarried, but his stepfather died soon afterwards. In 1995, Malakar's middle name was changed to Joseph to honor his late grandfather Joseph Paul Recchi Sr., whom Malakar cites as his hero. Although Malakar spent the majority of his formative years in the Seattle area, he has also lived in California and Kauai, Hawaii where he performed with the Hawaii Children's T