Joey Feek Opens Up About Her Final Album: 'These Songs Have Given Me Such Strength'

The Joey + Rory singer discusses how she recorded 'Hymns That Are Important to Us' as she battled cancer.

Joey Feek is channeling her heartbreaking experience into her music.

The country-bluegrass singer, one half of the GRAMMY-nominated duo, Joey + Rory, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in June and entered hospice care at the end of last year. Still, she wanted her final album, Hymns That Are Important to Us, to be heard.

"A lot has taken place in a year's time, but through it all, these songs have given me such strength," Joey said in a press release for the record. "They’ve given me such hope, and they give me something to look forward to."


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The couple began recording the album in Nashville shortly after Joey's first surgery. The 40-year-old singer says that she connected with one song in particular, "I Need Thee Every Hour."

"I'm hooked up to every machine possible, and out of just complete thankfulness that I came through, I remember having the strength to sit up enough, and my hands just elevated over my head, and I sang, 'I need Thee, oh, I need Thee, every hour, I need Thee,'" she recalls.

"Every hour, He got me through," she adds. "And it was hard, and I needed Him every hour, and I still do to this day -- there are days that are just hard."

Now, Joey hopes that others will find similar inspiration in the music. "People every day who don't have cancer who are dealt with trials or family issues or whatever it might be," she explains. "We need Him."


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Hymns That Are Important to Us
will be released on Feb. 12, with a deluxe version exclusively available at Cracker Barrel. The album will mark the last time Joey's husband, Rory, releases music as well.

"This is the last record that Joey and I will ever get to make and the last songs we'll ever get to sing together," he told ET. "I have no desire to go on singing or performing without her."

Listen to what else Rory said about the record in the below video.