Colt Ford Lost 60 Lbs. After a Near-Fatal Heart Attack Made Him Ditch Fried Chicken: 'I Was a Terrible Eater' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Colt Ford.Photo:Rick Diamond/Getty; The Factory Photography By Goldy

Rick Diamond/Getty; The Factory Photography By Goldy

Colt Fordturned 55 in August, but when the country-rap star went to celebrate his birthday, he realized that his best present was something hedidn’twant.“When I woke up, my wife Megan goes, ‘ I’ll take you to Waffle House,’” the country singer tells PEOPLE. “And I said, ‘Nah, I don’t want to go.’ That’s when I knew I had won. I broke the habit.”

Kicking his junk food habit was an unexpected, but welcome, consequence of Ford’s frightening health crisis 10 months ago. On April 4, the singersuffered a heart attackthat put him on life support and left him in a coma for eight days. It was a turning point.

Colt Ford in the hospital April 21, 2024, after his heart attack.Courtesy Colt Ford

Courtesy Colt Ford

Ford, who began his career as a pro golfer, didn’t used to think much about his health. Mountain Dew and fried chicken were staples. “I loved that stuff,” says the 5’10’’ Ford, who weighed 340 lbs. at one point. “I was a terrible eater.”

Colt Ford (right) with Jason Aldean in 2014.Rick Diamond/Getty

Rick Diamond/Getty

He began reconsidering his lifestyle in 2022 after he was diagnosed withmyasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakness. At the time of his heart attack in 2024, he had already slimmed down to 250 lbs.: “I was working on losing weight and feeling great. Then all of a sudden…”

His bass player was the first to find him collapsed on the floor of his bus in Arizona after a show. Ford flatlined twice and underwent a 10-hour surgery before being placed on anextracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)machine for a week. He ended up in the hospital and rehab for two months. “It was life-changing,” he says of the experience. “My doctor said, ‘I have no idea how you survived.'"

Colt Ford with wife, Megan.Colt Ford/Instagram

Colt Ford/Instagram

The singer is releasing a new single this month (“Hell Out of It” withMichael Ray) and while the song was written before his heart attack, “it has a whole different meaning to me now,” he says. “I’m going to be down here just living and loving the hell out of it. Just everything I do.”

That includes goingback on the roadin March, despite a few nerves. “Complete honesty, I’m feeling a ton of anxiety,” he says. “Never was scared of anything before except the good Lord and my mama. And maybe Megan too. But now I am, because I am not a hundred percent back strength-wise.”

After his heart attack, Ford says he lost muscle and is still trying to build it back up. “I couldn’t pick up a styrofoam cup with crushed ice in it and feed it to myself,” he says, of waking up from his coma. But, he adds, “I look good and I feel good. I’m feeling like it’s my Rocky comeback moment.”

Colt Ford.The Factory Photography By Goldy

The Factory Photography By Goldy

“God has more for me to do," Ford says. “For some reason he saw fit to give me another chance, so I intend to do something positive with it.”

source: people.com