The Earth Shall Inherit the Feek

(Mad props to Don)

 

Or

One Feek Under

Or

The Death of a Songbird

Joey Feek, who helped sell lots of copies of People and Us Weekly, has died of cervical cancer at the age of 41. Best known for an Overstock.com where she and her husband / duet partner Rory forget each other’s hair color, Feek came to prominence by finishing in third place on the CMT competition show Can You Duet. Coming off that “success”, the Feeks secured a recording contract that yielded their debut album The Life of a Song, which included the top 40 hit “Cheater, Cheater,” which suggests either irony or supreme confidence. Two years later, they won the Academy of Country Music Award for top new vocal duo and top new artist, the definition of new being relative in the world of country music. As befits the country world, they released a Christmas album, a gospel album, and a Cracker Barrel exclusive album. None of the duo’s other songs ever came close to the top 40 until their 2012 song “When I’m Gone” got considerable airplay for obvious reasons in 2015 and hit #21. The country audience was sympathetic, not deaf. Feek’s illness was a boon to her career – for a while anyway – as her Hymns That Are Important to Us was released 4 months after her terminal cancer diagnosis and was their best charting hit.