Introduction
RORY FEEK’S DAUGHTER REFUSES TO LEAVE HIS SIDE AFTER MOTHER JOEY’S TRAGIC DEATH
Country music star Joey Feek passed away on March 4th at the age of 40, following a long and courageous battle with cervical cancer. Her death left a deep void in the hearts of her family, friends, and millions of fans around the world. But no one has felt the loss more deeply than her young daughter, Indiana, who has reportedly refused to leave her father Rory’s side since Joey’s passing.
Rory Feek, Joey’s husband and musical partner in the beloved country duo Joey + Rory, shared a heartbreaking photo on Facebook of Indiana sitting at his feet, captioned simply: “Somebody won’t leave her papa’s side.” The image captured the depth of their grief — and the powerful bond between father and daughter as they face life without Joey.
After learning in October that her cancer was terminal, Joey made a single wish: to live long enough to celebrate Indiana’s second birthday. In a final act of strength and love, she held on until that moment came true. “After her birthday,” Rory wrote, “Joey told me she was ready to stop fighting. She wanted to go home.”
In her final days, Joey gathered her loved ones around her Tennessee farmhouse. With grace and peace, she said goodbye to her parents and sisters before asking to hold Indiana one last time. Rory recalled, “She told her, ‘Mama loves you. You be a big girl for your papa. I’ll be watching over you.’ Then she pulled Indiana close and kissed her.”
Moments later, Joey drifted into sleep — and never woke again.
Rory described his wife as a woman who “lived a full life, loved deeply, and was loved in return.” Even as her health declined, Joey found joy in simple blessings: celebrating Valentine’s Day, watching the Grammy Awards, and releasing her final album just weeks before her passing.
Following a private burial at the Feek family farm in Tennessee, hundreds gathered in Joey’s hometown of Alexandria, Indiana, to honor her life.
Today, Rory continues to raise Indiana — who was born with Down syndrome — surrounded by the memories of a love story that touched the world. “I have no regrets,” Joey told him before her passing. “I lived the life I always wanted to live.”
It was, as Rory said, “not just a life well-lived — but a life well-loved.”