Country-music duo Joey + Rory are up for their final Grammy for the album Hymns, which was made while Joey Feek was undergoing treatment for cervical cancer. Though Joey succumbed to the cancer in March, Rory Feek will be attending the ceremony—because she would have wanted it that way.
Rory told The Associated Press that last year, when they were nominated for their first Grammy, Joey was too sick to attend so they watched from home. Then, Joey told Rory that if they got nominated again, he should go—and one nomination later, that's exactly what he's going to do. "Now I am even more thankful that I am going because she did want me to go," Rory said.
Last year, the two were nominated for Best Duo/Group Country Vocal Performance, and Rory's daughters Heidi and Hopie attended the ceremony in Los Angeles. Joey had tried and tried to get Rory to go with them, and even purchased a plane ticket, but he refused to leave her side. " I can't leave her. I won't. I have done many foolish things and made lots of mistakes in my life, but this isn't going to be one of them," he wrote on his blog, This Life I Live. They ended up losing their category to Little Big Town.
The pair is nominated for Best Roots Gospel Album for Hymns, which was released a month before Joey died. These days, Rory doesn't write songs or sing anymore, but did release a documentary and will release an upcoming book about his relationship with Joey.