Joe Diffie (December 28, 1958 – March 29, 2020) was an American country music singer born into a musical family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1958.
After working as a demo singer in the 1980s, he signed with Epic Records’ Nashville division in 1990, and between then and 2004, Joe Diffie charted 35 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, five of which peaked at number one. These were his debut release “Home”, “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)”, “Third Rock from the Sun”, “Pickup Man” (his longest-lasting number-one song, at four weeks) and “Bigger Than the Beatles”.
In addition to these singles, he had 12 others reach the top 10 and ten more reach the top 40. He also co-wrote singles for Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw, and Jo Dee Messina, and recorded with Mary Chapin Carpenter, George Jones, and Marty Stuart.
Joe Diffie released seven studio albums, a Christmas album, and a greatest-hits package under the Epic label. He also released one studio album each through Monument Records, Broken Bow Records, and Rounder Records. Among his albums, 1993’s Honky Tonk Attitude and 1994’s Third Rock from the Sun are certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, while 1992’s Regular Joe and 1995’s Life’s So Funny are both certified gold. His album, Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album, was released in late 2010 through Rounder.
In 2012 Joe Diffie collaborated with Aaron Tippin and Sammy Kershaw on the album All in the Same Boat, and recorded the single “Girl Riding Shotgun” with D Thrash of the Jawga Boyz. This was followed in 2019 by a vinyl album called Joe, Joe, Joe Diffie.
Joe Diffie died in Nashville, aged 61, on March 29, 2020 from complications of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
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