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Rory Feek is honoring his late wife Joey Feek a decade after her death.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, March 4, the country music star, 60, paid tribute to Joey, who died in March 2016 after a cervical cancer battle. She was 40.
“Ten years ago today… Joey took her last breath here in this world and a moment later, her very first one in Heaven,” Rory reflected alongside a video that featured Joey’s gravesite. “And though her time on earth was through, her impact on the world was just beginning. In the months and years that followed, millions of people have been moved, touched and inspired by her music and even more so, her life.”
Rory went on to describe Joey as “by far, the bravest person I’ve ever met” in the heartfelt post.
“Through her two year battle with cervical cancer, she never once complained, never felt sorry for herself and never stopped believing that somehow, all of this was part of a larger plan, and that one day we would see the purpose that only He could see at the time,” he wrote. “Joey knew what mattered most in life and lived it out every single day, even and especially in the smallest of things.”
The singer also reflected on Joey’s character, noting that while she was known for her physical beauty and talent, her inner spirit was what truly defined her.
“As pretty as she was, she was even more beautiful on the inside. In the end, when all of the external beauty was taken, it only made room for the light inside her to shine even brighter,” he added. “Joey showed me for the first time in my life, what real, selfless love looked like, and inspired us all to live life to the fullest and more importantly, how to fully live life to the end.”
Rory also touched on the final weeks of Joey’s life as well as the next chapter for their family which has been guided by Joey’s love for them. (Rory and Joey, who married in 2002, shared daughter Indiana, 12. After Joey’s death, Rory moved on with Indiana’s schoolteacher Rebecca, who he wed in July 2024. Rory is also father to daughters Heidi, 39, and Hopie, 37, with his first wife Tamara Gilmer.)
“In the last few weeks and days, she knew that although her story was coming to end, and it was hard to see at the time…a new story was about to begin for me, and for Indy,” Rory wrote. And she loved us enough, to encourage us find to love again after she was gone. She was praying for Rebecca, and knew the blessing she would be to us, even though she never met her.”
Concluding the tribute, Rory explained why Joey’s song “Nothing to Remember” was chosen to accompany the meaningful tribute post.
“This was the first song Joey and I ever wrote together — long before we were together or had any idea of the incredible life or story God was going to give us in the coming years,” he shared. “A prophetic message of how having loved someone makes having lost them more than worth it.”
Joey was first diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014, and it returned as stage 4 in 2015. In October 2015, the country singer announced she would be forgoing further chemotherapy treatment and instead live out her final days in a hospice.
“I pray that one morning I just don’t wake up,” the singer told The Tennessean at the time. “I don’t fear anything because I’m so close to God and we’ve talked about it so many times. I know he’s close.”
Joey died on March 4, 2016, surrounded by her loved ones, according to a blog post written by Rory at the time.
“My wife’s great dream came true today. She is in Heaven,” he wrote. “The cancer is gone, the pain has ceased and all her tears are dry.”
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