Joey Feek Dies After Cancer Battle
“My wife’s greatest dream came true today. She is in Heaven.”
That is the first line from the latest entry to This Life I Live, the blog created by singer-songwriter Rory Feek. In the blog post, he announced that his wife and duet partner, Joey Feek, passed away Friday afternoon (March 4) after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Originally diagnosed with Cervical Cancer in the summer of 2014, Feek – who was a new mother at the time to infant daughter Indiana – was thought to have beaten the disease. However, a re-occurrence of the disease took place in mid-2015, and treatments were started again. By the fall, doctors’ tests showed that the cancer had grown. It was at that point that the couple decided to stop all treatments, allowing her to return to live the rest of her days in her native Indiana. Through his blog, Rory continued to keep the public aware of how things were going with the couple. Hospice was called to the home in late 2015, but Feek was determined to live to see one last Christmas. A few weeks before that, the couple’s name was announced as Grammy nominees – and she lived to watch the CBS telecast just a few weeks ago. There were two other moments that were important for the singer – her daughter’s second birthday on February 17 – and the release of Hymns That Are Important to Us, an all-Gospel project of hymns that she grew up on. It was an album that she worked on while going through her treatments in the late summer and early fall. Released just a few weeks ago on the Gaither Music Label (along with a deluxe edition through Cracker Barrel), the album proved to be not just an artistic triumph, but the duo’s biggest commercial success as well – debuting atop the Billboard Country Albums chart.
The couple married in 2002. By that point, Rory had already established a successful songwriting career, and Joey had recorded an album, That’s Important To Me. As time went on, the two began to blend their talents together – culminating with their participation in CMT’s Can You Duet competition series in 2009. They finished third on the show, but gained a recording deal with Sugar Hill Records. Their first single, “Cheater, Cheater,” hit the top-30 on the singles chart. While they would never enjoy a bigger radio hit, they placed eight albums on the chart – including the new Gospel release.
The couple also joined forces for a successful weekly series on the RFD-TV network that was actually filmed on their farm about an hour south of Nashville. Just a few miles up the road, the couple operated a restaurant, Marci Jo’s, where Joey could often be seen waiting on customers prior to her illness.
In covering Country Music artists for twenty-five years, you sometimes meet people – in and out of the spotlight – who are not what they claim to be. In the case of Joey Feek, that was simply not the case. If you were lucky enough to become friends with her or Rory, you had a friend for life. I have a Get-Well card from a hospital stay to prove it. Her love, warmth, and faith will continue to be a blessing to others for years. Our deepest sympathy to Rory and their family, daughters Indiana, Heidi, and Hopie.
