Rory Lee Feek is a well-known country musician and songwriter from the United States. On April 25, 1965, he was born in Atchison, Kansas. He was 40 years old when he lost his battle with cervical cancer on March 4, 2016.
He was known for his hit songs like Someone Is Me (2021), Play the Song (2008), To Say Goodbye (2008), Bible and a Belt, and many others.
He is not just well-known for his songs; he has also written songs for other well-known performers, including Tracy Byrd, Blake Shelton, Clay Walker, and other top vocalists.
He formed the band Joey+Rory with his deceased wife Joey. Don Williams, Merle Haggard, and other musicians served as his musical role models.
Early Life and Family of Feek
On April 25, 1965, Rory Feek was born in Atchison, Kansas. Feek wed Tamara Gilmer on August 3, 1985, and the two separated on March 25, 1992. In 2002, he wed Joey Martin Feek, and the two of them created a band named Joey + Rory.
On February 17, 2014, their daughter Indiana Boon was born with Down syndrome. Feek also has two older children named Heidi and Hopie from a previous marriage.
Joel F. Salatin and Feek are friends and partners, and they have worked together on a number of performances that support sustainable farming. Outside of Nashville, Feek owns land that includes a farm, a performance theatre, and a school.
Career of Feek
Feek began playing the guitar at 15, and Don Williams and Merle Haggard were among his earliest influences. After completing his high school education, he spent two tours of service with the US Marine Corps before moving to Dallas and starting to perform in nightclubs.
His first success, “Someone You Used to Know,” sung by Collin Raye, came in 1999 when he went to Nashville and secured a publishing deal. In the 2000s, Feek rose to prominence as a composer, creating songs for artists including Mark Wills, Kenny Chesney, and Randy Travis.
In 2004, he and Paul Overstreet co-wrote Blake Shelton’s “Some Beach,” which became his first number-one hit.
He founded Joey + Rory band with his wife in 2008, and the couple competed in the CMT talent competition Can You Duet, finishing a respectable third. Later that year, they released “Cheater, Cheater,” their debut single, which reached number 30 on the country singles charts.
After signing a contract with Sugar Hill Records, both of them released The Life of a Song, their debut long-player, which received three nominations (and one victory) from the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards.
Their succeeding albums, including Album Number Two, His and Hers, Inspired: Songs of Faith & Family, and Made to Last, all reached the top of the charts. The couple made the final diagnosis of Joey’s cervical cancer public in 2015.
As a Recording Artist
Rory is a musical artist and one-half of the Grammy-winning Joey+Rory country music duet. He and his wife Joey have performed all over the world, sold nearly a million recordings, and have their own weekly, nationally broadcast television program on RFD-TV.
Over 500,000 copies of their most recent album, “Hymns That Are Important To Us,” were sold in 2016, and it debuted at the top of every Billboard album list.
As an Author
In his capacity as a writer, Rory’s autobiography This Life I Live, subtitled “One Man’s Extraordinary, Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever,” debuted at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list and is still one of the best-selling books in the US.
He is the originator of the television programs and specials they star in, as well as the music videos they compose, direct, and edit.
As a Filmmaker
Rory is a talented filmmaker who produced the heartfelt documentary To Joey, With Love and Josephine, an epic love story that took place during the last few months of the American Civil War. Based on a script he co-wrote with Aaron Carnahan, it was released in theatres in the summer of 2017.
Songs of Rory Feek
- “Someone You Used to Know”
One of Rory Feek’s first big hits as a songwriter was “Someone You Used To Know” in 1999. The song was written by Collin Raye and included on his fifth studio album, The Walls Came Down. Feek and Tim Johnson co-wrote “Someone You Used To Know,” which became Raye’s second hit from the album. The depressing song was well received by country fans and reached as high as No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs list.
- “The Chain of Love”
After Collin Raye’s successful creation of “Someone You Used To Know” to the top of the country music charts, Clay Walker had similar success with “The Chain of Love.” This powerful story-song, written by Rory Feek and Jonnie Barnett, touched listeners’ hearts in all aspects of life. A Top 40 smash on the Billboard Hot 100 all-genre list, the song rose to no. 3 on the Billboard.
- “The Truth About Men”
This sassy, testosterone-infused song, co-written by Feek, Paul Overstreet, and Tim Johnson, served as the first single and album’s title track for Tracy Byrd’s eighth studio album in 2003. The song, which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs list, includes performances by Blake Shelton, Montgomery Gentry, and Andy Griggs.
- “Some Beach”
Another song Blake Shelton and renowned singer-songwriter Paul Overstreet co-wrote, “Some Beach,” in 2004 became a major career smash for Blake Shelton. It became one of Shelton’s biggest singles early in his career and spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs list.
- “I Will”
The second single from Jimmy Wayne’s 2008 album Do You Believe Me Now, “I Will,” was released and was co-written by Feek and Dave Pahanish. The tender love song reached its highest position of No. 18 for 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs list.
- “A Little More Country Than That”
With the release of his debut single “A Little More Country Than That” in 2009, Easton Corbin made a big impression on the country music world. The song, which was co-written by Rory Feek, Wynn Varble, and Don Poythress, reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs list and was given a platinum certification by the RIAA.
- “How Do You Get That Lonely”
In 2004, Rory Feek and fellow musician Tim Johnson founded Giant Slayer Records, and one of their first performers was Blaine Larsen. Later that year, the song “How Do You Get That Lonely” has been released and reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles list. The beautiful song was co-written by Feek and Jamie Teachenor in honor of Lance Emmitt, a Tennessee teenager who committed suicide in 2003 at the age of 19.
- “When You’re Not Trying To”
Reba McEntire recorded “When You’re Not Trying To” for her 25th professional studio album, another masterpiece by Rory Feek and Tim Johnson, on McEntire’s trendy album So Good Together, which was published in 1999 and has been awarded platinum certification by the RIAA, “When You’re Not Trying To” is the eleventh song.
- “Met Him in a Motel Room”
This emotional song by Rory Feek and Jamie Teachenor is based on vivid images. Trisha Yearwood was inspired by that superb composition to record the track for her eagerly expected 2014 album Prize-fighter: Hit After Hit. For Feek’s 2021 solo album Gentle Man, Yearwood recorded a particularly unique duet version of the song with Feek.
- “Better Than You”
This fascinating song, which depicts the journey of a man and a woman on a dinner date. Terri Clark wrote it in collaboration with Rory Feek. The witty song was written by Clark and released on her fifth studio album, Pain to Kill, which was released in 2003.
Some Other Hits of Rory
Here are some more songs of Rory Feek along with the album name and release year.
| Name of Song | Name of Album | Releasing Year |
| When I’m Gone | His and Her | 2012 |
| Gentleman | Gentle Man | 2021 |
| One Angel | Gentle Man | 2021 |
| That’s Important to Me | Album Number Two | 2010 |
| Small Talk Café | Gentle Man | 2021 |
| If I Need You | Made To Last | 2013 |
| Someone is Me | Gentle Man | 2021 |
| Salvation | Gentle Man | 2021 |
| Out On a Limb | Gentle Man | 2021 |
| Time Won’t Tell | Gentle Man | 2021 |
| Leave It There | Inspired (Song of Fait & Family) | 2013 |
| Gotta Go Back | Inspired (Song of Fait & Family) | 2013 |
| Bible and a Belt | His and her | 2012 |
| Softly and Tenderly | Hymns | 2016 |
| Satan and Grandma | Gentle Man | 2021 |
Conclusion
- Style and Sound Rock, blues, funk, soul, folk, and other genres are frequently present in Rory’s varied musical approach.
- His songs are frequently reflective and introspective, and he has a warm, soulful voice.
- Feek has worked with some of the greatest names in music and has been included in a number of albums.
- Many of Rory’s songs are the imagery of ordinary life with familiar themes like faith, loss and heartbreak, growing older, and small-town life.
- Rory does a good job of fusing dramatic rap lines into the project, giving it a little more punch.
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