It’s been more than two years since Rory Feek lost his wife—and Joey+Rory duo partner—Joey Martin Feek to cancer in March 2016.
Since that time, Rory has had to adjust to being a single father to their daughter, Indiana, 4, who was born with Down syndrome, as well as his daughters—Hopie, 29, and Heidi, 31—from his previous marriage. Rory has also had to adjust to performing onstage without his longtime partner.
CBS Sunday Morning’s Anthony Mason sat down with Rory to talk about the two years since Joey’s death, including his reaction to finding out Hopie was gay.
Below are a few excerpts from the interview that will air on June 17 at 9 a.m. CT on CBS.
- “I feel just as married and just as in love [since Joey’s death]. And I feel like she’s just as much a part of our life as she was.”
- “It felt surreal and strange [performing solo], a little wrong in some ways because I had kinda decided I wouldn’t. But, on the other side, it felt strangely similar.”
- “I said, ‘Just tell me, Hopie,’ And she went on to tell me that her friend Wendy was more than her friend, that Wendy and her had been dating for almost a year. And that she was in love . . . She’s asking me, ‘Are you still going to love me?’ And my first reaction, honestly, was I don’t think so . . . Because my conservative Christian faith that saved me—the first reaction is that challenges that immensely. Am I supposed to shun my child now and say, ‘No, you can’t be in my life until you come around to thinking like I’m thinking’? . . . The only thing I try to keep in mind is it’s her life, it’s her choice, it’s her faith and my job is to love her even when it’s hard . . . Yes, [I accept her].”
