David Allan Coe, one of country music’s most provocative and complex figures, has died at the age of 86.
rolling stone reported the death.
Born in Akron, Ohio in 1939, Coe came to Nashville in the 1960s as a songwriter before breaking through as a recording artist in his own right.
Her profile rose sharply in 1973 when Tanya Tucker covered her ballad Would you like to lie down with me (in a stone field) at the top of the national rankings.
He signed with Columbia Records shortly after and released his first studio album, The mysterious rhinestone cowboyin 1974.
His 1975 album There was a rhyme presented one of his most enduring songs, You never even called me by my namewhile the years 1976 Long-haired redneck became another famous entry in his catalog.
A year later, he achieved another number one when Johnny Paycheck recorded his composition. Take this job and push it in 1977.
The journeyhis 1983 single featuring a supernatural encounter with Hank Williams, became one of his most recognizable recordings.
Coe was never a simple character.
The late 1970s and early 1980s saw him release two albums explicitly titled Nothing sacred in 1978 and Underground album in 1982, which contained deeply offensive material, including racist slurs and homophobic and misogynistic remarks, and remains an important part of his troubled legacy.
Legal difficulties arose in the 2010s.
In 2015, Coe pleaded guilty to obstructing and obstructing the administration of tax law and was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $1 million to the IRS.
He was 86 years old.
