Country music star’s ‘odds of survival were grim’ after being rushed to hospital. Here’s the latest

Colt Ford performs at the Throwdown By the Bay at the Amalie Arena on Friday, Dec. 12, 2014, in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by John Davisson/Invision/AP)John Davisson/Invision/AP

Colt Ford has been on the minds of many country music fans for the past week and for good reason.

The 54-year-old suffered a heart attack following a show in Arizona two Fridays ago, and he has been in an ICU in a hospital there ever since. Updates have been few and far between since then, but here’s what we know from what has been shared: it was not looking good for Ford early on, but he has been steadily improving ever since.

Charlie Rymer, an analyst for the Golf Channel, shared the most telling update late last week. It detailed just how frightening a situation this has been for Ford and the people around him.

“Hey everybody,” Rymer wrote on X on Thursday. “News keeps getting better on (Colt Ford). All the prayers are appreciated and working. 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’s post came on the same day that Mike Flaskey, the former CEO of Diamond Resorts and current CEO of Mike Flaskey Entertainment posted on X, formerly Twitter, about Ford’s status.

“With permission, I am posting some positive news about our beloved (Colt Ford)!” Flaskey wrote. “He’s 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!”

TMZ reported earlier this week that it also learned that Ford is “doing a little better.”

The website added, however, that he was “far from out of the woods.”

That report came as the site reported that Ford was calling off the rest of his summer tour dates through the end of August. The site said that Ford’s team said refunds will be available at the point of purchase for any of the missed dates. Some dates may end up as postponements, too, and in that case tickets would be honored for those rescheduled dates, per TMZ.

Ford was rushed to the hospital last Friday after wrapping up a show at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row bar in Mesa.

Ford, who has worked closely with Toby Keith, Jamey Johnson and Jason Aldean, has had his share of health issues. Taste of Country reported last year that he was battling Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune disease.

He also reportedly had eye cancer and had to undergo surgery three years ago to deal with that.

Ford, whose real name is Jason Farris Brown, is a former professional golfer. He has released eight studio albums with his first coming in 2008, and his most recent, “Must Be Country,” released in 2023.