The country music world is mourning the death of one of their own. Joe Diffie, a strong country-music hitmaker in the Nineties, died Sunday due to complications related to COVID-19. His publicist confirmed the death to Rolling Stone. Diffie was 61.
The Oklahoma native had five Number One singles in the first half of the Nineties. It all began with his debut single “Home,” followed by “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” “Third Rock From the Sun,” “Pickup Man,” and “Bigger Than the Beatles.” Diffie charted 18 Top Ten singles, with most of them hitting the Top Five, including the 1993 radio staples “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)” and “John Deere Green.”