Georgia country music star ‘steadily improving,’ cancels rest of tour after heart attack

ATLANTA — Country music star and Athens native Colt Ford continues to recover after having a heart attack earlier this month.

Ford was doing a show in Gilbert, Arizona on April 4 and fell ill after the performance.

He was initially admitted into the intensive care unit at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona and was later transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.

Since then, Ford has been steadily improving but has had to cancel the rest of his 26 tour dates while recovers, according to reports.

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“At this time, his family is requesting privacy and appreciates your continued thoughts and prayers,” Ford’s team said in a statement.

Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer, who is a friend of Ford’s, said his condition was touch and go at one point.

“Odds of survival were grim. Now … He’s making great progress and doing better by the minute. Please keep Colt and his family in your prayers,” Rymer said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mike Flaskey, the CEO of Mike Flaskey Entertainment, also gave an update saying Ford was “awake and talking, after being incapacitated for 7 days from a life-threatening health issue after his last show. God has worked a miracle, and we need those prayers to continue for a full recovery!”

Ford is known among the country music world for his mix of country and rap. He’s had several No. 1 hits along with “five consecutive Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart with Declaration of Independence bowing at #1 in 2012.”

Ford has done collaborations “with everyone from Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, and Jermaine Dupri to members of No Doubt, Lit, and Lady Antebellum. Additionally, he co-wrote Jason Aldean’s #1 hit ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ and Brantley Gilbert’s #1 hit ‘Country Must Be Country Wide’ as a behind-the-scenes force in the studio,” according to his website.

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