“‘Til My Last Day” singer Justin Moore returned to the stage just last month after admitting he had checked himself into a 30-day rehab program to work on his looming struggles with alcohol.
Now completely sober for over two months, Moore sat down with long-time country music friend Tracy Lawrence in his first podcast appearance since his health hiatus, sharing some of his other latest life updates— including his drastic appearance changes. Upon re-kickstarting his summer concerts, many fans couldn’t help but notice Moore’s enlarged neck.
I’m sure by now a lot of people have seen one viral TikTok floating around featuring the hit-maker singing his 2009 single, “Small Town USA,” to a Virginia crowd this past August 8. The comments were filled with people pointing out his neck weight gain, with quite a number of users concerned for his health and a handful of others surely going to h*ll for their wild remarks… seriously, the internet is wild.
Clearing the air on TL’s Road House earlier today, he addressed the elephant in the room, gesturing to his lower neck and jokingly stating, “I’m sure people think, ‘Golly, he’s been eatin’ good.'” For all y’all spewing nicknames online, Moore actually clarified that they went to the hospital for his condition and originally thought it could be cancer or lipoma, “a slow-growing, non-cancerous lump of fat cells that forms just beneath the skin.”
Moore’s doctors confirmed it’s actually just fat but luckily is benign; however, unfortunately, there’s not much he can do about it right now. “They told me it would be very, very difficult to do surgery and it may affect my singing and even my speaking voice.”
Given the necessity of keeping his vocal cords intact, Moores opted to embrace the extra neck cushioning, “it doesn’t affect me, I just look like a linebacker circa 1982.” The Arkansas native also shared that his wife was a very uplifting figure throughout the whole scare:
“My wife and I were walking out of the hospital when I had an MRI or something and they had told us, “man great news its benign but there’s really nothing we can do about it.” So I was like kinda bummed out walking out of the hospital cause at the time we didn’t know it was cancer, we didnt know what it was. Of course your mind takes you to the worse possible places. And my wife looked at me and she goes, “if you just have a fat neck and you’re here for the next 50 years then shut up and stop complaining.”
Now if that isn’t the best reality check there is, then I don’t know what is. Moore agreed, hilariously adding, “I’ve never sold records because of my looks in the first place.”
Who knows, the new look might even spur a lasting nickname for Moore. Lawrence joked that he should coin himself with a kitschy name like how George Jones was called ‘the possum’ because of his beady eyes. Except in Moore’s case…we can start calling him the ‘chipmunk.’
Now would I want that to be my elected stage name? H*ll to the no. But Moore took it like a champ, chuckling at the joke and agreeing, “I like it. I like it.”
Moore just seems happy to be alive and back on stage at this point, also teasing in the episode that he’s back in the studio already cooking up new music for his upcoming ninth album. I’m just glad it’s not anything serious…