Singer and songwriter Joe Diffie died Sunday 3/29 from complications from coronavirus. He was 61. Joe was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to a musical family. He began performing at 14 in his aunt's band. Joe started his career in Nashville as a demo singer in the '80s and was signed to a record deal in 1989. Between 1990 and 2004, he scored 35 chart singles, including his debut hit, "Home." His other hits included "If the Devil Danced in Empty Pockets," "Ships That Don't Come In, "Bigger Than The Beatles" and his biggest hit, "Pickup Man." He recorded seven country solo studio albums, a Christmas album and a greatest hits collection.

In recent years he recorded Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album, All in the Same Boat with Sammy Kershaw and Aaron Tippin, and I Got This-- which had yet to be released. Joe was an in-demand songwriter who wrote hits for artists including Tim McGraw, Conway Twitty and Jo Dee Messina. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1993. He was also a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. He leaves behind his wife Tara, whom he married in 2018, and five children from previous marriages.

Albums:

A Thousand Winding Roads (1990)
Regular Joe (1992)
Honky Tonk Attitude (1993)
Third Rock from the Sun (1994)
Life's So Funny (1995)
Twice Upon a Time (1997)
A Night to Remember (1999)
In Another World (2001)
Tougher Than Nails (2004)
Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album (2010)
All in the Same Boat (2013)

Singles:

"Home,"
“If The Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)"
”New Way (To Light Up an Old Flame)”
“Ships That Don’t Come In"
“Honky Tonk Attitude"
“Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox”
“John Deere Green”
“Third Rock From the Sun”
“Pickup Man”
“So Help Me Girl”
“Bigger Than The Beatles”
“Texas Size Heartache”
“A Night to Remember”
“It’s Always Somethin’”

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