Joe Diffie

Joe Diffie (2007)

Joe Diffie (born December 28, 1958 in Tulsa , Oklahoma , † March 29, 2020 in Nashville , Tennessee ) was an American country singer .

Beginnings

Joe Diffie came from a music-loving family; both parents were country musicians. Joe himself played gospel , rock and bluegrass in various bands during his school days . With the bluegrass formation "Special Edition" he achieved a certain level of awareness in the local scene. After one of his self-written songs was recorded by Hank Thompson , he decided to try his luck in Nashville .

Career

In Nashville, he first kept afloat with a job in the Gibson guitar factory . He sang demo tapes for a music publisher and thus made his first entry into the scene. In 1989 Holly Dunn recorded a song that he had co-written. The Forester Sisters also used his material. Eventually Diffie got a record deal with Epic Records .

His first single, Home , made it to number one on the country charts. Three top 10 hits followed. His 1992 album Regular Joe achieved gold status. Diffie, one of the neo-traditionalists , had established himself in the country scene. He received a Grammy nomination and other awards. From his fourth album, released in 1994, the slightly more rock-oriented Third Rock From the Sun , two number 1 hits were released, the title track and Pickup Man . In 1995 he had another No. 1 success in the charts with the single Bigger Than the Beatles , after which sales figures slowly declined, and hit parades also became rarer.

In 2002 Diffie was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame . His last album, Tougher Than Nails , was released in 2004 on an independent label. In 2005, country singer Jo Dee Messina reached number 1 on the country charts with My Give a Damn's Busted ; Diffie had co-wrote this song and released it in 2001 on his album In Another World .

Joe Diffie died on March 29, 2020 at the age of 61 as a result of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	title	US	Country	Remarks
1990	A Thousand Winding Roads	-	Country23 (61 weeks) Country	Epic
1992	Regular Joe	US132 gold (12 weeks)US	Country22 (38 weeks) Country	Epic
1993	Honky Tonk Attitude	US67 platinum (53 weeks)US	Country10 (75 weeks) Country	Epic
1994	Third Rock from the Sun	US53 platinum (54 weeks)US	Country6 (72 weeks) Country	Epic
1995	Mr. Christmas	US129 (6 weeks) US	Country24 (10 weeks) Country	Epic
1995	Life's So Funny	US167 gold (7 weeks)US	Country28 (27 weeks) Country	Epic
1997	Twice Upon a Time	-	Country33 (8 weeks) Country	Epic
1999	A night to remember	US189 (1 week) US	Country23 (25 weeks) Country	Epic
2001	In Another World	-	Country56 (12 weeks) Country	Sony / Monument
2004	Tougher than nails	-	Country42 (4 weeks) Country	Broken Bow
2013	All in the same boat	-	Country70 (1 week) Country	Big hit with Sammy Kershaw & Aaron Tippin

More albums

2010: Homecoming - The Bluegrass Album (Rounder / Umgd)

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	title	US	Country	Remarks
1998	Greatest hits	US131 (6 weeks) US	Country21 (31 weeks) Country	Epic
2002	16 Biggest Hits	US38 (... weeks) US	Country4 (2 weeks) Country	Chart entry in US only in 2020

More compilations

2002: great hits
2003: The Essential Joe Diffie
2009: The Ultimate Hits (AGR Television Records)
2011: Playlist: The Very Best of Joe Diffie

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	Title album	US	Country	Remarks
1990	Home A Thousand Winding Roads	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country
1990	If You Want Me To A Thousand Winding Roads	-	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
1991	If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets) A Thousand Winding Roads	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country
	New Way (To Light Up an Old Flame) A Thousand Winding Roads	-	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
	Is It Cold in Here Regular Joe	-	Country5 (20 weeks) Country
1992	Ships That Don't Come In Regular Joe	-	Country5 (20 weeks) Country
	Next Thing Smokin ' Regular Joe	-	Country16 (20 weeks) Country
	Startin 'Over Blues Regular Joe	-	Country41 (13 weeks) Country
1993	Honky Tonk Attitude Honky Tonk Attitude	-	Country5 (20 weeks) Country
	Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die) Honky Tonk Attitude	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
	John Deere Green Honky Tonk Attitude	US69 (11 weeks) US	Country5 (20 weeks) Country
1994	In My Own Backyard Honky Tonk Attitude	-	Country19 (20 weeks) Country
	Third Rock from the Sun Third Rock from the Sun	US84 (9 weeks) US	Country1 (20 weeks) Country
	Pickup Man Third Rock from the Sun	US60 (5 weeks) US	Country1 (20 weeks) Country
1995	So Help Me Girl Third Rock from the Sun	US84 (7 weeks) US	Country2 (20 weeks) Country
	I'm in Love with a Capital "U" Third Rock from the Sun	-	Country21 (12 weeks) Country
	That Road Not Taken Third Rock from the Sun	-	Country40 (11 weeks) Country
	Bigger Than the Beatles Life’s So Funny	-	Country1 (20 weeks) Country
	LeRoy the Redneck Reindeer Mr. Christmas	-	Country33 (13 weeks) Country
1996	COUNTRY Life's So Funny	-	Country23 (20 weeks) Country
1996	Whole Lotta Gone Life’s So Funny	-	Country23 (20 weeks) Country
1997	This Is Your Brain Twice Upon a Time	-	Country25 (17 weeks) Country
	Somethin 'Like This Twice Upon a Time	-	Country40 (11 weeks) Country
	The Promised Land Twice Upon a Time	-	Country61 (4 weeks) Country
1998	Texas Size Heartache Greatest Hits	-	Country4 (25 weeks) Country
1998	Poor Me Greatest Hits	-	Country43 (10 weeks) Country
1999	A Night to Remember A Night to Remember	US38 (20 weeks) US	Country6 (29 weeks) Country
	The Quittin 'Kind A Night to Remember	US90 (6 weeks) US	Country21 (23 weeks) Country
	Behind Closed Doors Live at Billy Bob's Texas	-	Country64 (10 weeks) Country
2000	It's Always Somethin ' A Night to Remember	US57 (14 weeks) US	Country5 (37 weeks) Country
2001	In Another World In Another World	US66 (11 weeks) US	Country10 (34 weeks) Country
2002	This Pretender In Another World	-	Country49 (6 weeks) Country
2004	Tougher Than Nails Tougher Than Nails	-	Country19 (28 weeks) Country
2004	If I Could Only Bring You Back Tougher Than Nails	-	Country50 (8 weeks) Country

More singles

2013: All in the Same Boat (with Sammy Kershaw & Aaron Tippin)
2013: Girl Ridin 'Shotgun (with D-Thrash)
2018: I Got This
2018: Quit You

Guest Posts

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
year	Title album	US	Country	Remarks
1992	Not Too Much to Ask Come On Come On	-	Country15 (20 weeks) Country	with Mary Chapin Carpenter
1998	Same Old Train Tribute to Tradition	-	Country59 (5 weeks) Country	with various artists

Web links

official homepage
Joe Diffie at Allmusic (English)

swell

↑ Stephen L. Betts: Joe Diffie, Nineties Country's 'Pickup Man,' Dead at 61 From Coronavirus. In: Rolling Stone . March 29, 2020, accessed on March 29, 2020 .
↑ Sonaiya Kelley: Joe Diffie, award-winning country music singer, dies at 61 of COVID-19 complications. In: LAtimes.com . March 29, 2020, accessed on March 29, 2020 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Chart sources: US
↑ Music Sales Awards: US

personal data
SURNAME	Diffie, Joe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American country singer
DATE OF BIRTH	December 28, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tulsa , Oklahoma , United States
DATE OF DEATH	March 29, 2020
Place of death	Nashville , Tennessee , United States

[1] Stephen L. Betts: Joe Diffie, Nineties Country's 'Pickup Man,' Dead at 61 From Coronavirus. In: Rolling Stone . March 29, 2020, accessed on March 29, 2020 .

[2] Sonaiya Kelley: Joe Diffie, award-winning country music singer, dies at 61 of COVID-19 complications. In: LAtimes.com . March 29, 2020, accessed on March 29, 2020 .

[charts-3] Chart sources: US

[ausz-4] Music Sales Awards: US