McDonald placed 8th on the tenth season of American Idol and since 2005, he has been the lead singer of the band Hightide Blues which was renamed The Grand Magnolias in 2010.

The album has seen a boost in sales since Paul McDonald's appearance on American Idol,[1] and it reached number twelve on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and had sold 9,000 copies by April 27, 2011.

[4] On January 27, 2011, McDonald received a golden ticket to compete in Hollywood from judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson, and made it into the Top 24[5] by singing an original song, "American Dreams."

Since entering the competition, McDonald has made use of the social networking site Twitter to communicate with his fans and promote his band, The Grand Magnolias.

[10] McDonald was one of the 11 performers in the 2011 American Idols Live Tour, which began in West Valley City, Utah, on July 6, 2011, and ended in Rochester, New York, on September 10, 2011.

[14] In September 2012, McDonald appeared in a Parenthood episode as a musician who used Crosby and Adam's recording space, The Luncheonette, and sang a new song, "Counting Stars."

The moment they met was broadcast on an American Idol episode as part of a segment that showed McDonald and his fellow contestants attending the premiere.