Joey + Rory Feek Honored at GMA Dove Awards

Joey + Rory Feek, who had a #1 Christian and country music album with Hymns That Are Important to Us, were honored at the 2016 Dove Awards on Tuesday night (Oct. 11). The duo received the prize for Long Form Video of the Year for their final album, Hymns That Are Important to Us. The video was directed by Daniel Grace and produced by Aaron Carnahan, Joel McAfee and Bill Gaither.

The duo were also nominated in three other categories: Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year for "I'll Fly Away," Country Recorded Song of the Year for "He Touched Me" and Bluegrass / Country Album of the Year for Hymns That Are Important to Us, which was released in February.

Joey Feek was diagnosed with cervical cancer.  After months of struggling with the illness, she was pronounced dead on March 4, 2016 at approximately 2:30pm. She was 40 years old. Honoring her wishes, Rory held a private funeral on their farm in Tennessee and Joey was buried in the family cemetery on the Feek farm, where Rory's mother was buried in 2014 and where Rory himself will be buried.

Hymns That Are Important to Us, the duo's seventh and final studio album, was released on February 12, 2016 via Gaither Music Group. The set, which was a "dream project" for Joey Feek, consists of twelve covers of Christian hymns, plus a reprise of "When I'm Gone," which was first featured on the duo's His and Hers album in 2012. Some proceeds of the album's deluxe edition will go towards the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Foundation, a charity selected by Joey Feek in honor of her daughter's friend who has Loeys-Dietz syndrome. Hymns That Are Important to Us debuted at the top of the Billboard Top Country Albums and Top Christian Albums charts, with first week sales of 68,000 copies, making it their highest-charting release and the duo's best sales week ever

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