What was Joey Feek's Net Worth?
Joey Feek was an American country and bluegrass singer and songwriter who had a net worth of $3 million at the time of her death. Joey Feek was best known for being one half of the duo Joey + Rory with her husband Rory Feek. The duo finished as a third-place finalist on the CMT competition, Can You Duet, in 2008. The pair signed to Sugar Hill/Vanguard Records in 2008. Their debut studio album, The Life of a Song, was released in 2008 and reached #10 on the US Country Chart and #61 on the Billboard 200 chart. Their second album, Album Number Two, was released in 2010 and achieved similar success. Joey + Rory released the albums His and Hers in 2012, Inspired: Songs of Faith & Family in 2013, Made to Last in 2013, and Country Classics: A Tapestry of Our Musical Heritage in 2014. In 2011, they also released the album A Farmhouse Christmas. Joey + Rory have had some success with their singles "Cheater, Cheater" and "That's Important to Me". In 2010, the duo won an Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Vocal Duo of the Year. Unfortunately, Joey Feek died on March 4, 2016, at the age of 40 after suffering a battle with cancer.
Early Life
Feek was born on September 9, 1975, in Alexandria, Indiana, to parents Jack and June Martin. She was the fourth of the couple's five children and had three older sisters and one younger brother. Her younger brother, Justin, died in a tragic car accident very close to the family's farm in 1994.
Growing up, Feek was encouraged to explore her artistic and musical sides. Her father played guitar and encouraged her to start singing and performing from an early age. She was also very interested in animals and particularly liked horses. She was used to be around farm life as she grew up on her family's farm. After finishing high school, she decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career as an assistant at a horse vet clinic. During this time, she continued singing and would attend an open mic and songwriter nights at various Nashville bars.
Career
While living in Nashville, Feek met a number of people in the country music industry. She met Kix Brooks of the popular country duo Brooks & Dunn. During a songwriter night at a bar, she met Rory Lee Feek, whom she would later marry. She also started booking a few singing gigs during her early years in Nashville. She sang backing vocals on Blaine Larsen's 2004 album, "Off to Join the World," which was co-produced by her husband, Rory. She soon landed a contract with Sony Nashville and recorded an unreleased solo album, "Strong Enough to Cry." However, the album was not ever released due to internal restructuring at Sony. Eventually, the album was released under the name "If Not For You" in April of 2017 under Farmhouse Recordings.
As her career started taking off, Feek listened to the advice of a friend who suggested that Feek and her husband try out for "Can You Duet," a talent show that aired on CMT, Country Music Television. They decided to try to make an audition tape under the performance name Joey + Rory. They ultimately made it on the show and finished in third place. They were then signed as a duo to Sugar Hill/Vanguard Records. Under that label, they released their first three studio albums together from 2008 to 2012.
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In 2013, they released their fourth studio album, which shifted from a country sound to gospel music. The album, "Inspired: Songs of Faith & Family," peaked at number six on the Top Christian Albums chart. The same year, they released their fifth studio album, "Made to Last." The following year, they released "Country Classics: A Tapestry of Our Musical Heritage," which featured covers of classic country songs. They released their final studio album, "Hymns That Are Important to Us," in February 2016.
Outside of music, the duo also worked on a film together called "Josephine," which was written and produced by Rory Feek. Feek was also involved in the film, and some of their music was featured in the film, which debuted at the Nashville Film Festival in the summer of 2016.
Personal Life and Death
After meeting at a songwriter night, Rory and Joey Feek married in June of 2002. The couple had their first child together in February of 2014 after they had decided to take a brief break from music to spend a year at home. The baby was born with Down syndrome. They named her Indiana. A few months later, in May of 2014, Feek was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She underwent surgery and treatment and was declared cancer-free. The doctors opted not to put Feek through radiation or chemotherapy as the surgery to remove the cancer was deemed to be a total success.
However, in June of 2015, Feek was not feeling very well and sought medical attention. It was soon discovered that the cervical cancer had returned and had metastasized to her colon. She quickly underwent a second surgery to remove a tumor. She did recover from the surgery and then underwent intensive rounds of radiation and chemotherapy during the summer of 2015. During this time at the hospital, she was still recording music for the album "Hymns That Are Important to Us." However, all of the intensive treatment was not successful, as it was revealed that Feek's cancer was terminal in October of 2015. She was moved to hospice care in November.
The last few months of Feek's life were spent in hospice. It was there that she was able to live to see her son's second birthday and also witness Rory + Joey receive a Grammy nomination for the song "IF I Needed You." She passed away on March 4, 2016. The family held a private funeral for her at their farm in Tennessee, and she was buried at the family cemetery on the Feek farm.
