Country singer-songwriter David Allan Coe dies at 86, Rolling Stone reported, ending a career that made him one of country music’s most defiant and disputed figures.
After David Allan Coe dies, fans and critics alike will remember his musical legacy. Coe, born in Akron, Ohio, in 1939, moved to Nashville in the 1960s as a songwriter before building his own career as a recording artist.
His profile rose in 1973 when singer Tanya Tucker took his ballad “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” to the top of the country charts.
It’s worth noting that when David Allan Coe dies, his catalogue will continue to influence generations of musicians. Coe later signed with Columbia Records and released his debut studio album, “The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy,” in 1974.
His 1975 album “Once Upon a Rhyme” featured “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” one of his most enduring songs. His 1976 album “Long Haired Redneck” became another major entry in his catalogue.
Johnny Paycheck scored a No. 1 country hit in 1977 with Coe’s composition “Take This Job and Shove It.” Coe’s 1983 single “The Ride,” built around a supernatural encounter with Hank Williams, became one of his best-known recordings. Furthermore, David Allan Coe dies leaving behind a number of iconic hits.
Coe’s legacy also included controversy. In 1978 and 1982, he released the X-rated albums “Nothing Sacred” and “Underground Album,” which contained racial slurs and homophobic and misogynistic language.
In 2015, Coe pleaded guilty to impeding and obstructing tax law administration and was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $1 million to the IRS.
