Chris Young Performs Joe Diffie Tribute “Pickup Man” At ACM: “Our Country” Pre-Show

The Our Country event aired April 5, 2020, in place of the 55th ACM Awards show that had to be rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The specially televised two-hour event offered fans a unique way to enjoy their favorite country stars’ performances. Each country artist performed in the comfort of their own homes and virtually televised their performances in an acoustic setting, as well as having intimate conversations and sharing clips of some of their favorite ACM Award moments.

Some of the country artists who performed included Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown and John Legend, Luke Bryan, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Old Dominion, Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, and Gwen Stefani, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban.

Chris Young was brought on to perform a tribute to Joe Diffie singing Diffie’s well-loved song “Pickup Man,” for the pre-show on Facebook Live.

“Pickup Man” was released in 1994 as the second single from Joe Diffie’s fourth studio album Third Rock from the Sun. “Pickup Man” was Diffie’s longest-standing number one hit spending four weeks at the top of the Billboards Hot Country Singles & Tracks in December of 1994 through January of 1995.

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Joe Diffie passed away at the age of 61 on Sunday (March 29) from complications of COVID-19.

Diffie was a staple of ’90s country music. From 1990 to 2004 Diffie charted 35 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and had five number one songs: “Home,” “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” “Third Rock from the Sun,” “Bigger Than The Beatles,” and his longest-lasting number-one song “Pickup Man.”

Young posted a video of himself singing a snippet of Diffie’s song “Ships That Don’t Come In,” after he had learned the news of Diffie’s tragic passing.

Young captioned the video, “Nothing left to do but sing… this one hurts #ripjoediffie.”

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Watch Chris Young’s full performance honoring Joe Diffie at the ACM Presents: Our Country pre-show below.