New Kids on the Block In 1985, just before his 13th birthday, McIntyre joined
New Kids on the Block, replacing Jamie Kelly. Since the other four members of the band were already long-time school friends, he initially found it difficult to mesh with them. They eventually became one of the most successful
boy bands of the late 20th century, producing two number one albums on the US
Billboard 200 chart. In 1991,
Forbes listed the band as the highest-earning entertainers, beating
Madonna and
Michael Jackson. They split in 1994, but they reunited in 2008 and have remained active since.
Solo career Following their split, McIntyre busied himself with songwriting and sought a solo recording contract. He made his acting debut in the film
The Fantasticks, which was based on the long-running
Off-Broadway musical. This 1995 film, starring
Joel Grey and
Jean Louisa Kelly, was released in theatres five years later. Disenchanted by his inability to find a recording contract, McIntyre used his own money to record his first solo album
Stay the Same and sold it on his website. He then chose the
album's title track as a single and took it to local
Boston DJs, which eventually garnered the song national
airplay. The combination of airplay and website sales for the single led to him signing a recording contract in 1999 with
Sony Music USA, under the
C2 label, a subsidiary of
Columbia Records, which had previously been home to New Kids on the Block. The album was re-released on Sony's
Work Records and sold more than a million copies around the world and the single "Stay The Same" peaked at No. 10 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The second single from the album was "
I Love You Came Too Late". Also in 1999, McIntyre recorded the song "Remember Me" for the film
Southie, which starred former bandmate
Donnie Wahlberg. In 2001, McIntyre released his second solo album,
Meet Joe Mac, but it did not chart. "Rain" was the only single released from this album. In 2004, McIntyre released his fourth solo album,
8:09, followed by
Talk To Me, an album of
cover versions, in December 2006. In April 2008, the New Kids on the Block reunited. The single "
Summertime" was released in May 2008. Their first full-length album in fourteen years was released on September 2, 2008, titled
The Block. On September 18, 2008, they kicked off their
New Kids on the Block Live reunion tour. In 2009, they began their Full Service summer tour. They toured with
Backstreet Boys as the
supergroup NKOTBSB during the
NKOTBSB Tour in 2011 and 2012. On November 17, 2009, McIntyre released the single and video "Here We Go Again" from his EP of the same name. It was produced by Brent Paschke,
Gabe Lopez and Drew Ryan Scott. Paschke, Lopez and Scott also share cowriting with McIntyre on the project. The EP was released on
iTunes in December 2009. In November 2011, McIntyre released a Christmas album titled
Come Home for Christmas. The album features a collaboration with fellow New Kid
Jordan Knight on "
Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" and includes holiday classics such as "
Winter Wonderland", "
Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "
The Christmas Song". On October 23, 2020, McIntyre returned with the song "Own This Town", his first solo release since 2011's
Come Home for Christmas. He said of the song, "I wrote this song years ago, with a totally different intention. To me it’s about taking your shot, swinging for the fences, going for it. And I think it really takes on a new meaning now". This was followed in 2021 by the single "Prolific". It was released the week of his wedding anniversary and dedicated "to all the amazing daughters, sisters and mothers… especially my wife Barrett".
Acting McIntyre played Jon in
Jonathan Larson's
Tick, Tick... BOOM! for both the Off-Broadway (Fall 2001) and national tour (2003) versions of the play. In 2002, he appeared for a season on the television program
Boston Public. The following year, he released the live acoustic album
One Too Many with
Emanuel Kiriakou. In 2004, he starred in the film ''
Tony n' Tina's Wedding alongside Mila Kunis and also played Fiyero Tigelaar, the leading male role in the Broadway musical Wicked for which he received rave reviews. He replaced Norbert Leo Butz on July 20, 2004, and remained with the show until January 9, 2005, where he was later replaced by David Ayers. He also competed on the first season of the reality television show Dancing with the Stars'', placing third with dance professional partner
Ashly DelGrosso. McIntyre appeared as
Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli in
Happy Days, a musical based on
the hit TV show at the Falcon Theater in Los Angeles from February 15 to March 12, 2006, and a second run from June 23 to August 13, 2006. McIntyre appeared in the film
On Broadway, which was filmed in his hometown of Boston. In 2007, McIntyre appeared as Gary in
Christmas at Cadillac Jacks. It aired around Christmas of that year on
The Hallmark Channel and other various Christian channels and later became available on DVD. On November 2, 2011, McIntyre guest starred on a
season 6 episode of the detective comedy
Psych, titled "The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap Man, Issue #2". In 2013, McIntyre appeared in the American
buddy cop comedy
The Heat, as Peter Mullins, brother of Detective Shannon Mullins, played by
Melissa McCarthy. In 2014, McIntyre appeared in the
CBS TV sitcom
The McCarthys, playing Gerard McCarthy. In 2016, he appeared on the
Netflix comedy,
Fuller House with all of the members of
New Kids on the Block. In 2020, McIntyre appeared in the season 5 series finale of
Fuller House, titled "Our Very Last Show, Again", he appeared as himself officiating the triple wedding of the three main couples. On February 4, 2019, McIntyre returned to Broadway as the character Dr. Jim Pomatter in the musical
Waitress and he continued in this role until April 7, 2019. On March 24, 2022, McIntyre originated the role of Johnny in a new musical production of
The Wanderer at the
Paper Mill Playhouse in
Millburn, New Jersey. He continued in this role for the duration of the show's run until April 28, 2022.
Other endeavors In 2001, McIntyre hosted a season of
MTV's
Say What? Karaoke from
Las Vegas, Nevada. Beginning in December 2006, McIntyre took part in
Dancing with the Stars – The Tour with actor
Joey Lawrence, pop star
Drew Lachey and TV stars
Lisa Rinna and her husband
Harry Hamlin. On April 15, 2013, McIntyre competed in the
Boston Marathon, in which he ran to raise awareness of Alzheimer's in honor of his mother, who died on November 30, 2014. He finished with a time of 3 hours and 57 minutes, just minutes before
a bomb exploded and killed three and injured many more. On October 24, 2017, McIntyre released the first episode of his podcast "The Move with Joey McIntyre", where he interviews guests about their most memorable moving experience and what was going on in their lives at the time. On May 5, 2021, McIntyre announced on an
Instagram Live Stream, along with
Debbie Gibson, the release of the highly expected collaborative single "
Lost In Your Eyes, The Duet on June 4, 2021; they also announced a mini residence in Las Vegas, a 4-night limited engagement at the
Venetian Resort (August 26, 27, 28 & 29, 2021) ==Personal life==