Joey + Rory, Jimmy Fortune Earn 2016 GMA Dove Awards
Joey + Rory and Jimmy Fortune each took home one trophy at the 2016 GMA Dove Awards on Tuesday night (Oct. 11).
Joey + Rory earned Long Form Video of the Year for their final album, Hymns That Are Important to Us; the project was directed by Daniel Grace and produced by Aaron Carnahan, Joel McAfee and Bill Gaither. Fortune, meanwhile, won Bluegrass Song of the Year for "Life's Railway to Heaven," which also features the Oak Ridge Boys; the track was written by Eliza R. Snow and ME Abbey.
In addition to Long Form Video of the Year, Joey + Rory were nominated for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year (“I’ll Fly Away”), Country Recorded Song of the Year (“He Touched Me”) and Bluegrass / Country Album of the Year (Hymns That Are Important to Us). The husband-and-wife duo released Hymns That Are Important to Us in February, just a few weeks before Joey Feek passed away after a battle with cancer.
Fans both old and new had followed the Feeks’ story for months, and that interest helped Hymns top both the Billboard Top Country Albums and Top Christian Albums charts in its first week. The project sold 70,000 units (68,000 in pure album sales) in its first week, giving Joey + Rory their best sales week ever, and earned the No. 4 spot on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart — their first record to reach the Top 10 on that chart.
In addition to maintaining his blog, Rory Feek is writing a book, This Life I Live, that will be released in February. He recently released a documentary honoring his late wife, To Joey, With Love.
A complete list of 2016 GMA Dove Awards winners is available on the Dove Awards’ official website. Trinity Broadcasting Network will air the show on Sunday (Oct. 16).
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