Joey Feek, Rory Feek
Joey Feek died after a long battle with stage 4 cervical cancer. Above, Joey (left) and Rory Feek (right) appear at the 48th annual Academy of Country Music Awards presentation in Las Vegas April 7, 2013. Getty Images

Country singer Joey Feek, who spent years performing alongside husband Rory Feek in the Grammy Award-nominated duo Joey+Rory, died Friday. She was 40 years old.

The mother of one had been fighting stage 4 cervical cancer since 2014. Her condition steadily declined, leaving her confined to a hospice bed inside her home. As best she could, Joey attempted to stay involved in her family’s daily life, cooking dinners and planting seeds for spring. Her husband was quoted as saying she was in heaven.

Throughout his wife’s battle with cancer, Rory, 49, shared discussions of her condition in posts on their family blog, “This Life I Live,” as well as photographs on social media. As reported by People magazine, he took to the blog Feb. 29, writing a detailed account of Joey’s final goodbyes.

Rory shared with readers that his wife had told him, “It’s time to go home.” Joey then gathered her family around her bed to remind them that she loved them and say one last goodbye. Rory then brought in Indiana, the 2-year-old child he and Joey share, for a moment with her mother. The toddler sat on Joey’s lap while both her mother and her father cried. Joey told “little Indy” that she loved her, asking her to be good for her father. She gave the tiny tot one final kiss before falling into a deep sleep. At the time, nurses warned Rory that Joey would “only be with us for a few more days.”

Born in Alexandria, Indiana, Sept. 9, 1975, Joey leaves behind her husband Rory, daughter Indiana and two stepdaughters: Heidi Feek and Hopie Feek. Neither Rory nor any other family member has spoken out about funeral arrangements at this time.

Fellow country singer Carrie Underwood mourned Feek’s passing:

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