By https://www.latimes.com/people/sonaiya-kelley" rel="nofollow - Sonaiya Kelley Staff Writer
Joe
Diffie, a country music star who won Country Music Assn. and Grammy
awards and charted five No. 1 country singles in the 1990s, died Sunday
from complications of COVID-19. He was 61. The news was confirmed
by Adkins Publicity, which announced his death in a news release. Diffie
revealed his positive coronavirus diagnosis on Friday. The Tulsa
native’s career spanned three decades and more than 20 Top 10 hits
including “Home,” “If the Devil Danced (in Empty Pockets),” “Third Rock
From the Sun,” “John Deere Green” and “Pickup Man.” Diffie also wrote
hits for others, including https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-songs-tim-mcgraw-20181209-story.html" rel="nofollow - Tim McGraw , Conway Twitty and Jo Dee Messina. Diffie
started out working in the Oklahoma and Texas oil fields. He also drove
a cement truck and worked at a foundry, all while flirting with the
idea of launching a career in country music. Several years later, after getting a divorce and losing his job at
the foundry, Diffie packed up and moved to Nashville, where he got a job
working at the Gibson guitar factory, eventually earning a promotion to
quality control specialist. “When I moved here, I moved with the idea of being an artist,” he https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-05-ca-1955-story.html" rel="nofollow - said in 1990 .
“I wanted to hone my songwriting skills. When you come here, it takes a
while to be accepted because there are so many people who come to
Nashville who are talented but they have some personality flaw or they
are not dependable. By hanging around long enough, they find out if you
are dependable.” While at Gibson, Diffie spent nights and weekends recording demo
records and was eventually introduced by a coworker to Johnny Slate, who
owns a music publishing firm in Nashville. Slate brought the demos to
Bob Montgomery of CBS Nashville, who eventually signed Diffie to a
contract.
“I know what I look for,” said Diffie when describing his formula for
finding the right country song. “It’s something that moves me
emotionally or makes me smile, or gets a lump in my throat. It’s
something that I have lived.” “It’s hard to express how good this feels,” said Diffie of his success https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-05-ca-1955-story.html" rel="nofollow - in 1990 .
“I’m just a country boy, although that sounds like a cliche. But it’s
true; I was raised on a farm. The success is more than I could have ever
dreamed of.”
Rest in peace Joe Diffie.
------------- He who says there is no evil has already deceived himself The truth is the truth, sugar coated or not. Trawler II says, "Remember that."
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