Word spread tonight that Country singer Joe Diffie passed away today from complications connected to the COVID-19 virus. He was 61. Diffie had tested positive for the disease last week. Diffie hailed from Oklahoma, where he began his career performing in various bars, small clubs, and VFW halls before hitting it big. That required a move to Nashville, where he located in the mid-80s. But it wasn’t until the 90s that Diffie made a major dent on the Country music scene.

In his career Diffie put eighteen singles on the Country charts that hit the Top Ten. Eight singles crossed over to the Pop charts as well and made the Hot 100. One that missed, “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die),” was a Country radio staple in 1993, while you couldn’t avoid “Pickup Man” in 1995 – it spent a month at #1 on the Country chart. He topped that chart five times in total, including with a record called “Bigger Than the Beatles.”

This blog is centered on the pop charts, of course, which is why I picked the song here that I did. In 1999 Diffie not only crossed over to the Pop chart, he landed a song – “A Night To Remember” – in the Top 40, making it to #38 and spending a remarkable twenty weeks in the Hot 100.

You can here “A Night To Remember” by clicking here.