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Meet Rory Feek, Ex-husband of the late Tamara Gilmer

Author

John Johnson

Updated on December 30, 2025

Rory Feek is an American country music singer and songwriter who was born on April 25, 1965. He has written hits throughout his career for musicians like Clay Walker, Blake Shelton, Tracy Byrd, and others. On the first season of the CMT talent competition Can You Duet, he and his wife, Joey Feek, who together make up the duo Joey + Rory, came in third. Additionally, he founded Giantslayer Records to promote emerging independent musicians.

In Atchison, Kansas, Rory Lee Feek was born and raised. He lists 1965 as his birth year on his site, ThisLifeILive.com. On August 3, 1985, Feek wed Tamara Gilmer; their divorce was finalized on March 25, 1992. He married Joey Feek in 2002, and the two of them formed the band Joey + Rory. Indiana Boone, their only child, was born with Down syndrome on February 17, 2014. From his first marriage, Feek also has two older daughters named Heidi Feek (born in 1986) and Hopie Feek (born in 1988). On March 4, 2016, Joey passed away from metastatic cervical cancer.

Joel F. Salatin and Feek are friends and collaborators, and they have worked together on a number of performances that support sustainable farming. At a concert advertised as “Songs, Stories & Sustainability with Joel Salatin and Rory Feek” at the Music Ranch Montana in 2020 and again in 2021, Feek moderated a series of discussions about sustainable farming. Outside of Nashville, Feek owns land that includes a farm, a performance hall, and a school.

Feek started playing the guitar at the age of 15, being influenced by artists like Don Williams and Merle Haggard. After graduating from high school, he completed two tours of duty in the US Marine Corps before relocating to Dallas, Texas, where he played in nightclubs. After receiving encouragement from Nashville industry lawyer Rod Phelps and signing a publishing contract, Feek relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1995. As a songwriter, Collin Raye’s “Someone You Used to Know,” a Top Five country smash in 1999, was one of his first single releases. With “The Chain of Love,” another song that Feek co-wrote, Clay Walker also made it to the Top Five a year later.

In the 2000s, Feek continued to write songs for other singers, such as the 2003 single “The Truth About Men” by Tracy Byrd and album tracks for Mark Wills, Kenny Chesney, Terri Clark, Randy Travis, and Lorrie Morgan. With “Some Beach,” which he co-wrote with Paul Overstreet, Blake Shelton topped the country charts in 2004, giving Feek his first No. 1 as a songwriter. Additionally, in 2004, Feek established the Giantslayer Records label, for which Blaine Larsen collaborated with BNA Records to record two studio albums.

Feek and his wife Joey established the band Joey + Rory in 2008. Following their third-place finish on the CMT talent competition Can You Duet, they got a recording deal with Vanguard Records later that year. In the same year, Joey + Rory released “Cheater, Cheater,” which reached a peak of No. 30 on the country singles charts. Jimmy Wayne’s performance of “I Will,” another Feek co-written song, reached the country charts in the same year.

Feek has written several children’s books as well as two memoirs. A number of prestigious publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today, included his 2017 autobiography, “This Life I Live: One Man’s Extraordinary, Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever” (HarperCollins), on their best-seller lists. Other books include “Once Upon a Farm” (HarperCollins), “The Cow Said Neigh!,” “The Day God Made You,” and “The Little Rooster” (all published by HarperCollins) (Milk Barn Kids).

How old is Rory Feek?

He is 57 years old.

What nationality is Rory Feek?

Rory Feek is an American national.

Who is Rory Feek’s ex-wife?

Tamara Gilmer is well-known in the public as the ex-wife of American singer, composer, and musician Rory Feek.

As you can see, marrying a famous person and maintaining a relationship with them is the most common way for people to become famous. However, Tamara Gilmer is unusual because she rarely wears the newest trends.

Read this article from beginning to end to learn more about Tamara Gilmer, her profession, her money, and how she rose to fame. Compared to the Tamara Gilmer who has subsequently been published and can be seen on tributearchive.com, this article’s Tamara Gilmer is different.

Even though Tamara Gilmer prefers to lead a modest life, the fact that she married a musician and vocalist made her renowned. When their divorce is finalized, she returns to lead a peaceful life, though.

Did Rory Feek have any kids with Tamara Gilmer?

Despite having two children together throughout the course of their seven years of marriage, Tamara Gilmer and Rory Feek had a daughter in 1886 who they named Heidi Feek.

Like her father, Heidi Feek is a musician, and in 2012, she married Casey Pierce. They brought Hopie Feek into the world the following year, in 1988. Hopie Feek married Wendy on October 27, 2018. Like her mother, Hopie loves to keep her personal life private.