This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.

Joe Diffie, who went from working in oil fields and foundries to becoming one of the most commercially successful country singers of the early and mid-1990s, died on Sunday in Nashville. He was 61.

His death, from complications of the coronavirus, was announced by his publicist, Scott Adkins. Mr. Diffie had revealed on Friday that he was being treated for the condition.

At the dawn of the 1990s, country music was embarking upon a great, rollicking party period, and Mr. Diffie, with a touch of aw-shucks wryness to his performances and a robust head of blond hair that shot back from his head like wispy flames, was suited to the moment.

As a singer, he had a crisp, sentimental voice, which he deployed on ballads like “Is It Cold in Here” and “Home,” his debut single from 1990; it topped the Billboard country chart, the first of his five No. 1 country singles. He placed a dozen more songs in the country Top 10.