Country Music Legend David Allan Coe Dead at 86
David Allan Coe, the country music singer known for hits such as "You Never Even Called Me by My Name," has died. He was 86.
Rolling Stone confirmed Coe's death on Wednesday, April 29. His cause of death was not known by the outlet at the time of publication.
Born in Akron, Ohio, on Sept. 6, 1939, Coe spent much of his young adulthood serving time in correctional facilities for a variety of crimes. His stints behind bars helped him cultivate the outlaw persona he would carry with him into his music career.
After making his way to Nashville in 1967, Coe initially achieved recognition as a songwriter when Tanya Tucker's rendition of "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)" hit No. 1 in 1973. The song's success led to Coe being signed by Columbia Records.
Coe ventured fully into country music with his 1974 album, The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy. The following year, he recorded his own version of "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)" for his 1975 album, Once Upon a Rhyme, but it was another song on the album that became a career-defining top 10 hit for Coe: "You Never Even Called Me by My Name."
The track includes several memorable lyrics-for instance, the spoken word portion where Coe refers to it as "the perfect country and western song." Elsewhere, he name-checks himself, singing, "But the only time I know I'll hear ‘David Allan Coe' / Is when Jesus has His final judgment day."
Throughout his career, Coe made a point to mention himself in several of his songs, including 1976's "Longhaired Redneck," 1977's "Willie, Waylon and Me" and 1986's "Son of the South."
While the height of his success came in the ‘70s, Coe enjoyed a comeback in 1983 with his album Castles in the Sand, which featured the popular single "The Ride."
Outside of his own music, Coe was well-known for his songwriting for other artists. In addition to Tucker's "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)," he famously penned the 1977 No. 1 hit "Take This Job and Shove It" by Johnny Paycheck.
In the later years of his career, Coe continued to release his own new albums and perform live.
Despite his place in country music history, Coe was not without his controversies. He incited backlash for his use of racial slurs and misogynistic language on his albums Nothing Sacred in 1978 and Underground Album in 1982, though he later claimed the projects were meant to serve as parodies.
Decades later, Coe found himself in legal trouble, pleading guilty to impeding and obstructing the administration of Internal Revenue laws in 2015. The following year, he was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $1 million in back taxes to the IRS.
As for his personal life, Coe married his sixth wife, Kimberly Hastings, in 2010.
Coe is survived by his wife and his children.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 9:29 PM.