Rory Feek Fights Back Tears As He Sings Publicly For The First Time Since Joey’s Death

CBS This Morning/YouTube

Just over one year ago country singer Joey Feek passed away after a valiant battle against cervical cancer. The 40-year old and her husband, Rory, rose to country fame after appearing on CMT’s Can You Duet? in 2008. 

Prior to Joey’s passing, Rory confessed that he had no desire to sing without her. 

“This is the last record that Joey and I will ever get to make and the last songs we’ll ever get to sing together,” Rory says, referencing their album Hymns That Are Important To Us. 

“I have no desire to go on singing or performing without her…,” he confessed at the time. 

But, time seems to have healed those wounds somewhat as Rory made his first public performance without Joey on Saturday morning (May 20). Feek appeared on CBS This Morning and revealed that he has started playing and singing again for the first time without Joey. The performances were private, only for the purpose of Feek’s healing. 

“I’ve had someone hand me a guitar from time to time, but I begrudgingly just pass it on to the next person,” Feek told CBS.

But, after hearing someone else play a song of his and Joey’s he decided to pick up a guitar again. 

“Later that night when the baby was in bed, I got my wife’s guitar down off the wall. Pretty soon an hour had gone by and I’d probably sang about a dozen songs that I hadn’t sang in a year or so. And it felt pretty good. Then I just hung it back up,” Feek says.

In a move that surprised even the show’s host, Feek offered to play a song. As he sang the unreleased song “I Like The Sound of That,” Feek fought back emotion, even stopping the song once to compose himself before continuing. 

Feek isn’t sure what the future holds for him, but he admits that he’s thinking about it for the first time in more than a year. 

“I don’t know yet what’s down the road, but I’m thinking about it. I’m really thinking about it for the first time. And I’m staying pretty open to the possibilities,” Feek admits. “I haven’t been very open to the possibilities.”

Feek recently released Joey’s solo album, a project she recorded more than a decade ago. Order your copy by clicking here. 

Watch Rory Feek’s full interview with CBS This Morning in the video below.