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David Allan Coe, one of the most influential figures in the Outlaw Country genre, has died aged 86.
The Ohio native reportedly died at approximately 5pm ET in hospital on Wednesday, April 29th, with his wife, Kimberly Coe, confirming the news in a statement to Rolling Stone.
Kimberly shared, “One of the best singers, songwriters, and performers of our time [and] never to be forgotten. My husband, my friend, my confidant and my life for many years. I’ll never forget him and I don’t want anyone else to ever forget him either.”
Throughout his career, Coe was as revered as he was controversial. After spending time in and out of correctional facilities in his youth, he moved to Nashville in 1967, and lived out of a hearse that he parked directly outside the Ryman Auditorium. He'd perform here for onlookers as ‘The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy’.
He caught the attention of Nashville executives, and Coe signed with Columbia Records in the early ‘70s. He went on to pen Johnny Paycheck's hit single, ‘Take This Job And Shove It’, and Tanya Tucker's No. 1, ‘Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)’.
Over the course of his career, Coe released more than 40 albums, with his most commercially successful project being 1983's Castles in the Sand, which featured ‘The Ride’. The haunting track would go on to become one of Coe's most beloved singles.
In 1981, Coe became the first artist to record ‘Tennessee Whiskey’, a song that has since become one of the most popular country songs in history, following Chris Stapleton's cover.
As his career was gaining steam, Coe courted controversy with two independently released “X-rated” projects, Nothing Sacred (1978) and Underground Album (1982). This led to widespread condemnation and accusations of racism, due to the use of slurs, as well as misogynistic language. Coe maintained that these two projects were intended as parodies, but the shocking nature of the albums meant he was largely blacklisted in the genre in later years.
According to Variety, in 2015, he pleaded guilty to impeding and obstructing the administration of tax laws and was sentenced to three years probation. He had to pay back $1m.
Coe continued recording throughout the 2000s, and despite his various eccentricities and controversies, his impact on the trailblazing Outlaw Country genre is undeniable. Coe is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and his children, Tyler Mahan and Tanya.
