DOVE AWARDS 2013: 'American Idol' Alum Scott MacIntyre Talks Health Woes, Power of Faith, Upcoming Album
"American Idol" alum Scott MacIntyre recently praised God for helping him overcome physical challenges and blessing him with a successful music career.
The singer and pianist, who rose to stardom in 2009 as an eighth place finalist on "Idol" season 8, suffered from kidney failure prior to his audition however the wife of his music teacher helped saved his life which enabled him to pursue his dreams of making music. MacIntyre, who suffers from tunnel vision, attributed his ability to overcome past health woes to his faith.
"My faith has brought me through a lot, one of the organizations I do a lot of charity work for now is Donate Life America and a lot of people don't know that a year before "Idol" I actually had kidney failure and was on dialysis," MacIntyre recently told The Christian Post exclusively at the 44th Dove Awards in Nashville, TN.,. "[I] could not play piano, could not sing and the wife of my former piano teacher donated her kidney to me and saved my life. I would not be here today and would not have been on "Idol" without that life saving gift."
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The "Christmas In Paris" singer, 28, hailed the reality singing show for helping boost his music career. MacIntyre's 2010 CD "Heartstrings" debuted at #18 on the iTunes Pop Album Chart and he has toured across the globe with some of the biggest names in music including Jason Mraz and Queen.
"'Idol' opened up so many doors just the way God's used it since then over the last couple of years has been amazing," he said.
"I've been able to tour around the world, perform with some of my favorite acts that I grew up listening to. I got to perform with Jonas brothers recently [and] Alice Cooper [among others]... really cool experiences so I'm so blessed," he added.
MacIntyre, who is the author of "By Faith, Not By Sight," revealed why he is passionate about spreading God's word through music. He also touched on what initially drew him to Christian music.
"I just love music. I think music has a way of reaching so deep into people's souls and moving them and when it's a message for Christ it's really powerful... I think that's what drew me to Christian music and what drew me to music in the first place was just the way that it connects with people," he said.
The acclaimed singer-songwriter is currently working on a new album that is scheduled for release in the Spring of 2014. He opened up about why he believes people of all walks of life connect with his music.
"I just try to be honest in my music. I try to tell stories about what I've been through in my life and what other people might be going through and I really believe that there's no obstacle too great that you can't overcome if you walk by faith instead of by sight," he said.
"That was the title of my book "By faith, Not By Sight"... hopefully that's something that can help people in their situation because we all have challenges. I have physical challenges [visual impairment], other people might have emotional or spiritual challenges," he explained.
The 44th Dove Awards airs Monday, October 21 at 8PM EDT on the UP network.
Top Dove Award Winners
Artist of the Year: TobyMac
Song of the Year: "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)," Matt Redman, (writers) Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin
Songwriter of the Year: Matt Redman
Rap/Hip Hop Album: Gravity, Lecrae, (producers) Heat Academy, Joseph Prielozmy, J.R., The Watchmen, Dru Castro, Uford Ebong, Tyshane, Thainnacircle, DJ Kahalil, Zach Crowell, Dirty Rice, DJ Official and Rudy Currance
Pop Contemporary Album: Eye On It, TobyMac, (producers) David Garcia, Toby Mckeehan, Christopher Stevens, Jamie Moore, Telemitry
Praise & Worship Album: Burning Lights, Chris Tomlin (producers) Jason Ingram, Ed Cash and Dan Muckala
Contemporary Christian Performance of the Year: "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)," Matt Redman
Southern Gospel Performance of the Year: "What The Blood Is For," Jason Crabb
Gospel Performance of the Year: "Break Every Chain," Tasha Cobbs
New Artist of the Year: for King & Country
Producer of the Year: Ed Cash
For more information on the Dove Awards CLICK HERE
