Rory Feek has remarried nearly a decade after the tragic death of his wife, Joey.
The 59-year-old country singer shared on his blog that he and Rebecca tied the knot on July 14 “under a beautiful timber-frame pavilion” in Greycliff, Montana, in front of family and friends who made the long trek at short notice. In a post on his blog aptly dubbed “the wedding singer“, Rory shared how he and Rebecca finally decided that marriage was, in fact, in the cards, and it’s all thanks to Rory and Joey’s 10-year-old daughter, Indiana.
It’s been a while since Rory shared that “Indiana only saw Rebecca as ‘Miss Rebecca,’ her teacher and our friend.” He added, “And while she’s become so much more than that to me, I’ve been very careful to let Indy ‘figure it out’ on her own.”
Rory said she wondered if “it would ever occur to Indiana that Rebecca could be more than just a friend to her father, and to her.”
Indiana not only found out but practically brokered the nuptials.
The way Rory tells it, it happened in March when Rebecca was driving Indy to school. And something magical happened moments later. Rebecca returned with Indiana to the house and Rory says she told him, “Indiana just asked me something that I think you need to hear.” Rebecca shared that Indiana told her, “‘Miss Rebecca, I think you should marry Daddy.'”
With Indiana present for that conversation, Rory says Indiana looked at him and said, “‘(And) I told Miss Rebecca that my mother is long gone. And if she marries you, maybe she can be my new mother.'”
That sweet moment, Rory says, brought tears to her eyes.
At their wedding, Rory surprised Rebecca with the song “I Do,” inspired by Rebecca’s unparalleled love. The ceremony and her performance were captured on video and shared on her YouTube channel. But the picturesque event and surprise song weren’t even Rory’s favorite part of their special day.
“And while surprising Rebecca by singing a song I wrote for her at the wedding was wonderful, I think by far mine and her favorite moment at the wedding was this one,” said Rory, who also has two daughters, Heidi and Hopiefrom a previous relationship. “When Indiana was given the gift of having a Mama in her life again. And Rebecca was given the gift of being a mother. And we became a family.”
Joey Feek, one half of the country and bluegrass duo Joey + Rory, died on March 4, 2016, after a battle with cervical and colorectal cancer. She was 40. Almost a year after Joey’s death, the duo won a GRAMMY for Best Roots Gospel Album for their album, Hymns that are important to us. At the 59th GRAMMY Awards, Rory gave an emotional acceptance speech in memory of his late wife.
Two months after that emotional GRAMMY win, Joey’s solo album, If it weren’t for you (recorded in 2005) was posthumously released by Capitol Christian Distribution and Universal Music, as well as Rory, the album’s co-producer and Joey’s songwriting partner.
“When this album was recorded in 2005, Joey and I were still newlyweds, or at least we felt like we were,” Rory shared in a press release. “Although we had hopes for the record at the time, it wasn’t to be, and so this collection of songs sat quietly on a shelf for the last 10 years or so, waiting for the right moment to come, when maybe, somehow, someone would care. A moment like now.”
“It’s one of the great joys of my life to dust off these songs and breathe life back into them,” he added. “Not just the songs, but the stories and the lives of the special women these songs represent.”
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