Country Star Joe Diffie's Friends And Neighbors Honor Him With Tractor Parade

Apr 01, 2020 by apost team

Grammy-winning country music legend Joe Diffie died on Sunday at his home in Nashville at the age of 61 due to complications from the novel coronavirus. To remember Diffie’s life and celebrate his successful career, the Nashville community paid tribute to the country star by launching a parade of John Deere tractors and pickup trucks on Monday.

It was an unusual but strangely fitting procession given that the country musician was perhaps best known for his tracks John Deere Green and Pickup Man. According to Motorious, dozens of Nolensville, Tennessee residents — where Diffie lived before he died — joined in the parade along with other passenger vehicles and a group of emergency personnel. Throughout the video you can also here fans blasting Diffie’s music as they drive on past the onlookers.

Diffie announced on Friday that doctors had diagnosed him with the COVID-19 virus, according to The New York Times. Over the weekend, Diffie’s publicist announced his death, which stemmed from complications from the deadly respiratory illness.

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Like many country greats, Diffie comes from a humble southern background. He went from working in oil fields and foundries to become one of the most successful recording artists of the country music scene, according to The Times. Diffie was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1958 to a mother who was a schoolteacher and flower shop owner, and to a father who held a variety of different jobs including one as Toby Keith’s tour bus driver. Music, it seemed, was in his blood from an early age. While he was still a young child, Diffie would play in his aunt’s country band among other blues and rock outfits. It wasn’t until the 1980s that Diffie began to write his own music, however. But after a move to Nashville where he continued to write, Diffie finally struck gold when he signed with Epic Records in 1990.

His debut single, Home from that year, topped the Billboard charts early on — one of five number one Diffie country singles, according to The Times. But the song that Diffie is perhaps most famous for, the song that sparked a pickup truck and tractor parade, was his 1994 hit Pickup Man. Not only was it a chart topper, remaining high on country charts for four weeks, but it also showed Diffie’s playful side. With lively, goofy lines like “You can set my truck on fire and roll it down a hill / And I still wouldn't trade it for a Coupe de Ville” and “I met all my wives in traffic jams” Diffie distilled a certain wry but altogether enjoyable country music style.

As the Nashville tractor tribute shows, Diffie left behind a loyal fan base that was undeniably sad to see the cheerful country star pass. According to The Times, Diffie is also survived by four sons four sons, three daughters, four grandchildren and his wife, Tara Terpening Diffie. Tara took to Instagram on Tuesday to remember her husband.

“Joe was so loved and I hope he can see how he affected everyone’s lives,” she wrote. “The radio stations are all playing his music and it makes my heart happy. We have loved every tribute. He loved his fans, his friends, his family and he was truly happy. Please keep playing his music. Please keep his legacy alive forever.”

What do you think of Nashville's tractor tribute? Are you a Joe Diffie fan? Let us know and pass this on to all your country music loving friends and family members.