[4] In 2005, USA Today named him one of its twenty College Academic All-Stars and he was offered Marshall and Fulbright scholarships.
[1] The same year, MacIntyre was diagnosed with kidney disease and in November 2006, he had to spend ten months undergoing dialysis, severely hampering his capacity to perform and travel.
[1] He graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Piano Performance in 2005,[1] and he was received in the White House by Laura Bush as one of the RFB&D (Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic) scholarship winners in 2006.
After his successful run on American Idol, he began dating childhood friend Christina Teich at the end of 2009.
His first full-length post-Idol album, Heartstrings was released on March 11, 2010, to MacIntyre's web site and to digital retailers.
This album was re-released in 2012 with new original bonus tracks including "I Am Hope" which became an anthem for the organ donation community and one of MacIntyre's most popular songs.
[10] The memoir chronicles the challenges of growing up blind, learning to play the piano, and dealing with an unexpected illness that almost took his life before he ever competed on the popular reality show.
Following the release of "Lighthouse," MacIntyre wrote the theme song for the feature film, "If I Had Wings," about a blind teen who wants to run track and field.
In 2020, MacIntyre and his wife produced a television special entitled "Enduring Hope" which aired internationally and surpassed 1 million viewers in 2023.