1. Joe Logan Diffie was an American country music singer and songwriter.
36 Facts About Joe Diffie
1. 2.
Joe Diffie co-wrote singles for Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw, and Jo Dee Messina, and recorded with Mary Chapin Carpenter, George Jones, and Marty Stuart.
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Joe Diffie released seven studio albums, a Christmas album, and a greatest-hits package under the Epic label.
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Joe Diffie released one studio album each through Monument Records, Broken Bow Records, and Rounder Records.
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Joe Diffie's style is defined by a neotraditionalist country influence with a mix of novelty songs and ballads.
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Joe Diffie died from complications related to COVID-19 during the pandemic on March 29,2020, at the age of 61.
7.
Joe Diffie was born into a musical family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1958.
8.
Joe Diffie first worked in oil fields, then drove a truck that pumped concrete in the oilfield in Alice, Texas, before he moved back to Duncan to work in a foundry.
9.
Joe Diffie then built a recording studio, began touring with Special Edition in adjacent states, and sent demonstration recordings to publishers in Nashville.
10.
Joe Diffie divorced his wife, who left with their two children.
11.
Joe Diffie spent several months in a state of depression before deciding to move to Nashville, Tennessee.
12.
That same year, Joe Diffie was contacted by Bob Montgomery, a songwriter and record producer known for working with Buddy Holly.
13.
Joe Diffie co-wrote the album's second and fourth releases, "If You Want Me To" and "New Way "; both peaked at number two on Billboard, and the former reached number one on the RPM country music charts in Canada.
14.
Joe Diffie performed his first concerts in late 1990, touring with George Strait and Steve Wariner.
15.
In 1991, Joe Diffie co-wrote the tracks "Livin' on What's Left of Your Love" and "Memory Lane" on labelmate Keith Palmer's debut album.
16.
The album's third single, "Next Thing Smokin'", made its chart debut one month before "Not Too Much to Ask", a duet that Joe Diffie recorded with Mary Chapin Carpenter for her album Come On Come On.
17.
The final single from Regular Joe Diffie was "Startin' Over Blues", which peaked at number 41.
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Also in 1992, Joe Diffie was nominated by the Academy of Country Music for Top New Male Vocalist, along with Billy Dean and Mark Chesnutt, but lost to Billy.
19.
Also in 1993, Joe Diffie was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
20.
Joe Diffie followed the song with "I'm in Love with a Capital 'U" and "That Road Not Taken", which respectively reached country peaks of 21 and 40.
21.
Joe Diffie contributed to another cut on that album, "Same Old Train", which featured Marty Stuart and 11 other country music singers.
22.
That same year, Joe Diffie was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
23.
Joe Diffie signed to the independent Broken Bow Records in 2003.
24.
In 2005, Jo Dee Messina released "My Give a Damn's Busted", which Joe Diffie co-wrote and originally recorded on In Another World.
25.
Joe Diffie's version of the song, included on her album Delicious Surprise, was a number-one single that year.
26.
In 2008, Joe Diffie compiled and released a live album, and he signed to Rounder Records later in that year.
27.
Joe Diffie toured at various county fairs in August 2010 in support of it.
28.
Joe Diffie co-produced the album with Luke Wooten, and included on it the song "Tennessee Tea", which Diffie originally recorded while he was in Special Edition.
29.
Later in the year, Joe Diffie collaborated with Aaron Tippin and Sammy Kershaw on the album All in the Same Boat, and cut the single "Girl Riding Shotgun" with D Thrash of the Jawga Boyz.
30.
Parker Joe Diffie later worked as Joe Diffie's stage manager in the mid-2000s, and in mid-2010, he and Kara auditioned for American Idol.
31.
Two years after divorcing Janise, Joe Diffie married Debbie Jones, a nurse technician.
32.
In 2000, Joe Diffie married Theresa, whom he met at a concert, at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.
33.
Joe Diffie married Tara Terpening at The Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville in 2018.
34.
From 1992 to the early 2000s, Joe Diffie held a charity concert and golf tournament benefiting First Steps, a nonprofit organization for the education of mentally and physically impaired children.
35.
Joe Diffie later became a country music radio broadcaster himself, fronting a midday program for Tulsa radio station KXBL.
36.
On March 27,2020, Joe Diffie announced that he tested positive for COVID-19.