Cady Groves’ Team Releasing Album Singer Completed Before Her Death

Singer/songwriter Cady Groves died at age 30 on May 2, and her team has decided to release the project Groves had finished working on before her death. Groves’ reps told PEOPLE that on Friday, her team would release her EP Bless My Heart, which Groves finished when the coronavirus pandemic began. The project will include five songs — originals “Camo,” “Cigarettes and Sunshine” and the title track, a reprise of Groves’ song “Crying Game” and a cover of James Blunt’s “Bartender.”

Groves independently released her first EP, A Month of Sundays, in 2009. In 2012, she released her This Little Girl EP, whose title track became her most famous song. Cady later signed with Vel and premiered her single “Crying Game” in 2015, followed by her debut EP, Dreams, later that year. Vel’s statement shares that Cady had been transitioning from pop to country and was working on new material with the team from Shane McAnally’s SMACKSongs. She recently signed with the Thirty Tigers label and was preparing to release her EP.

“Having spent the last 14 months working with the creative trust at SMACK Songs, her EP was ready — and waiting for the passing of COVID-19,” a press release read. “While Cady isn’t here to see it, her music is being released to cheer people through the anxiety, uncertainty and loneliness.” Music critic Holly Gleason interviewed Groves before her death and called “Bless My Heart” “Groves’ personal truth set to song, today.” “Like a fistful of polaroids from a promising young life, it follows the Tinkerbelle songstress chasing a dream – and working to find her way through the tough stuff,” Gleason said of the song.

Groves’ death was first announced by her older brother Cody in a post on Twitter, where he stated that his sister died of natural causes. “The medical examiner has completed autopsy, and there was no indication of foul play or self harm. Simply put, Cady Groves died of natural causes,” he wrote. “She had some medical problems last fall and our best guess at this point until further testing is complete is that they had resurfaced. Please respect her name and family before sharing information that did not come directly from here.” Cody added that Cady “was really looking forward to the next few months and release of her new album. Our latest in depth conversation (since most were witty banter) was her sending me songs to critique and give feedback on.”