Rory Feek

Rory Feek
Rory Feek at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards in 2010
Born (1965-04-25) April 25, 1965[1]
Atchison, Kansas, U.S.
Residence Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation Singer-songwriter
Years active

1996-present (as a songwriter)

2008-2016 (as a singer)
Home town Atchison, Kansas, U.S.
Spouse(s)

Tamara Gilmer (m. August 3, 1985, divorced March 25, 1992)

Joey Feek (m. June 15, 2002 – her death, March 4, 2016)
Children 3
Musical career
Genres Country
Instruments Vocals
Labels Sugar Hill/Vanguard (in Joey + Rory)
Associated acts Joey + Rory
Military career
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Marine Corps
Years of service 8 years

Rory Lee Feek (born April 25, 1965) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In his career, he has written singles for Clay Walker, Blake Shelton, Tracy Byrd and other artists. He and his wife, Joey Martin Feek, formed the duo Joey + Rory and was placed third on the first season of the CMT talent show Can You Duet. He also established Giantslayer Records for launching of new independent artists.

Personal life

Rory Lee Feek was born and raised in Atchison, Kansas. In his blog, thislifeIlive, he gives his birth year as 1965, despite numerous other sources that give it as 1966. Feek married Tamara Gilmer on August 3, 1985 and they divorced March 25, 1992. In 2002, he married Joey Martin Feek, with whom he started the duo Joey + Rory. They have one daughter, Indiana Boon (born February 17, 2014), who was born with Down Syndrome. Feek also has two older daughters, Heidi (born 1986) and Hopie (born 1988),[2] from the previous marriage. Joey died of metastatic cervical cancer on March 4, 2016. Feek's daughter Hopie is a lesbian and she came out to him about it. It took him time to come around to accepting her. Hopie Feek will be marrying her girlfriend Wendy at his farm where he lives at in the Autumn season and he is hosting it.

Career

Inspired by Don Williams, Merle Haggard and other artists, Feek began playing guitar at age fifteen. He later served two tours of duty in the United States Marine Corps after high school, before moving to Dallas, Texas, where he played in nightclubs. Feek moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1995 after being encouraged to by Nashville entertainment attorney Rod Phelps, and signed to a publishing contract. One of his first single releases as a songwriter was Collin Raye's "Someone You Used to Know", a Top Five country hit in 1999. A year later, Clay Walker reached Top Five as well with "The Chain of Love", another song that Feek co-wrote.[3]

Feek continued to write for other artists in the 2000s, including album tracks for Mark Wills, Kenny Chesney, Terri Clark, Randy Travis, and Lorrie Morgan, as well as Tracy Byrd's 2003 single "The Truth About Men".[3] In 2004, Feek achieved his first Number One as a songwriter when Blake Shelton topped the country charts with "Some Beach", which he co-wrote with Paul Overstreet.[4] Also in 2004, Feek founded the Giantslayer Records label, on which Blaine Larsen recorded two studio albums in association with BNA Records.

In 2008, Feek and his wife, Joey Martin Feek, founded a duo called Joey + Rory. They came in third place on the CMT talent show Can You Duet, and later that year signed to a recording contract with Vanguard Records.[5] Joey + Rory released their debut single "Cheater, Cheater" that year, and peaked at No. 30 on the country singles charts with it. That same year, Jimmy Wayne charted on the country charts with "I Will", another Feek co-write.

Singles co-written by Rory Lee Feek

References

  1. ↑ "This Life I Live". Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  2. ↑ http://www.thislifeilive.com/happymothersdaydad
  3. 1 2 "Rory Lee Feek biography". Blacktop Music Group. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
  4. ↑ Morris, Edward (February 23, 2005). "Paul Overstreet, Rory Lee Feek Bask on "Some Beach"". CMT. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
  5. ↑ Malec, Jim (October 28, 2008). "Introducing Joey + Rory: "Like Two Names Carved in an Oak Tree"". The 9513. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
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