David Allan Coe, the outlaw country music singer well known for his combative demeanor and songs like “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” and “The Ride,” has passed away. He was 86.
According to Music Universe, he died while in intensive care after being in “declining health” for years.”David is a musical treasure,” said his representative to Music Universe. “David appreciated all of the fans.”
Coe was well recognised for his contributions to the country music subgenre “outlaw country.”
Outlaw country music is a subgenre that sprang from the “outlaw movement” of the 1970s, which also included the work of Willie Nelson and the late Waylon Jennings, and was centred on stories about evading the law and living a raw, real life.
Coe served multiple years in prison for crimes such as grand theft auto and possession of burglary tools. He also claimed to have used a mop bucket to kill an inmate in 1963, according to Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone described him as “wildly eccentric” throughout his life. He drove a hearse while wearing a Lone Ranger mask.
Coe also composed music for performers such as Tanya Tucker and Johnny Paycheck. Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It,” which peaked at number one in 1977, and Tucker’s “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone),” which also peaked at number one in 1973, both credited to him.
According to Music Universe, his own songs were frequently deemed too “wild” for radio because of their graphic, vulgar, and occasionally racist lyrics. For a long time, Coe had defended the racist lyrics as jokes and parodies.