Traditional country musician Joe Diffie was born December 28, 1958 in Oklahoma. Though he always loved music, taking an interest early on with his father's George Jones albums, he began a career in a Texas oil field after marrying young and starting a family. After the oil fields, Difie moved back to Ohio and started work as a machinist. After nine years and a failed marriage, Diffie was fired and finally found his home in music.

He started slow, singing with his church's gospel quartet, and later worked with the group Special Edition, contributing bluegrass vocals to the group's two albums. Finding his true passion, he created a recording studio in his own home and invited local gospel quartets and bands to use the newly furnished studio. He started to pursue songwriting and that led him to the success. The news that Randy Travis was considering recording one of Diffie's songs traveled quickly to the country music capital, and Diffie moved out to Nashville.

While working at a loading dock for Gibson guitars, he recorded with Holly Dunn for her 1989 single "There Goes My Heart Again," and he became an overnight sensation. He signed to Epic records and the next year released his debut album A Thousand Winding Roads. Two years later he released Regular Joe followed by Honky Tonk Attitude. He continued to top the charts during the ‘90s with more number one hit singles and albums. Toward the end of the ‘90s Diffie saw his success slip just a tad, so Epic released a Greatest Hits album, featuring the new single "Texas Sized Heartache," giving the country boy back his edge. In 2001 he released In Another World with the Sony subsidiary Monument, again with a single that reach the Top Ten.