Cledus T. Judd is back, and he’s better than ever. The singer and comedian just released “My Weight’s Goin Up Down” a spoof on the Morgan Wallen “Up Down” hit, featuring Florida Georgia Line.
In Judd’s hilarious video, he sings lines like, “I love my chicken fried / My taters piled up high / Scoop of coleslaw on the side, ’bout Joe Diffie wide / Don’t bother me at all, watchin’ my cholesterol / Goin’ up down, up down, up down,” while alternately feasting on highly-caloric foods and doing intense workouts.
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Judd’s video might be funny, but his comeback isn’t a laughing matter. The 53-year-old released several successful albums, which included comedic parodies like “Did I Shave My Back For This?” and “It’s a Great Day to Be a Guy,” in the late ’90s and early 2000’s, all while battling a drug addiction.
But when his daughter, Caitlyn (who appears in the video), was born in 2004, Judd was inspired to clean up his life, ultimately relocating to West Virginia to serve as the morning host on WTCR radio station. Although he found success, Judd realized he still wasn’t happy, or fulfilled.
“I left Nashville behind,” Judd says. “I focused mostly on my daughter and my morning radio show, but after I would get off in the morning,s my daughter would be at school, and I became bored. I’m a creative soul and there was nothing to feed it. I tried to find any kind of work I could after my show. I’d buy and remodel dilapidated houses. Then, when I came home, covered in dirt and soot, coughing up coal, I’d think, ‘Man if Kix [Brooks] and Ronnie [Dunn] could see me now!”
It was only when Ray Stevens invited Judd to open for him for a show that Judd began to consider making a comeback.
“Ray is my idol, so I did it,” Judd says. But when the entire room of more than 1500 people gave Judd a standing ovation, he considered whether he was ready to return to country music. Still, it was Caitlyn who sealed the deal for her famous father.
“Dad, if you’re gonna go stand on the back of a hay truck and sing funny songs to make money, I would rather you stay home and be with me,” she said. “But if you’re going to change people’s lives, I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.
“Besides,” she added, “we’re sick of watching your old YouTube videos. Go out and make some new ones, and besides I’ll need a Ferrari in a few years.”
Judd began writing, penning songs for himself and others, including “Three Feet of Water,” which Brantley Gilbert included on his 2017 The Devil Don’t Sleep record. With all that he’s endured, the Georgia native says he is vastly different, in the best way possible, from the troubled artist he used to be.
“It’s the same old Cledus on the outside,” Judd maintains. “But the same old Cledus doesn’t exist no more on the inside. I’ve been loaded with money and I’ve been broke. I’ve been suicidal and I’ve been happy. I’ve been all of those things, and I’m not ashamed of any of it because I know I ain’t the only one. So things are different this time around. The fans changed my life the first go around so I made a promise to God that this go around I would try and change theirs. Give them hope and ease their troubles for awhile. Make ’em laugh make ’em cry, make ’em feel good about their own life for a few hours.
“Come on out to one of my shows, and I might pull up a chair with you,” he continues. “We’ll talk, we’ll hang out, we’ll share stories but most importantly we will laugh! I want to touch peoples’ lives for the better. That’s the sole reason for my return. I have a beautiful family and home like I never dreamed of, but nothing compares to the joy I get from sharing my journey.”
“My Weight’s Goin’ Up Down” is available for download on iTunes.
Photo Credit: Getty images/Rick Diamond
