Country Music Singer Who Sang the ‘Perfect Country and Western Song’ Dies: David Allan Coe Was 86

Outlaw country singer David Allan Coe, known for songs like “The Ride” and his humorously self-described “perfect country and western song,” “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” has died. He was 86.

Coe’s wife, Kimberly Hastings Coe, confirmed his death to Rolling Stone on Wednesday, praising him as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time. “My husband, my friend, my confidant and my life for many years,” she told the publication. “I’ll never forget him and I don’t want anyone else to ever forget him either.”

Coe’s booking agent, David Wade, confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the country star had died on Wednesday, just after 5 p.m., while in the hospital. An official cause of death was not immediately made public.

“He was a complicated man [and] outlaw, and a great songwriter, singer, and showman,” Wade continued to the outlet. “He had fans from around the world and appreciated them all.”

Coe leaves behind a controversial legacy, as his earlier music included “two underground albums of songs that are among the most racist, misogynist, homophobic and obscene songs recorded by a popular songwriter,” as per a 2000 report from The New York Times.

Coe attempted to distance himself from those releases later in life, telling Swampland.com in 2004 that “anyone that would look at me and say I was a racist would have to be out of their mind.”

“I have dreadlocks down to my waist with earrings in both ears and my beard is down to my waist and it is in braids,” he continued. “People that read my books or whatever can see how I talk about living with Hank Ballard and the Midnighters and we had an apartment together and I have a whole big feature story on him in my book.”

“I lived next door to Charley Pride. I am a songwriter, you know, and to me it has always bothered me that actors in the movies can say whatever they want to say, kill people, rape people and do things and no one ever accuses them personally of being that way,” he continued. “But when you write a song and then all of a sudden you are being accused of something.”

Coe toured over the years with fellow musicians Willie Nelson, Kid Rock, and Neil Young, and penned a number of songs for other well-known acts, including “Take This Job and Shove It,” for Johnny Paycheck in 1977 and “Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone),” for Tanya Tucker in 1974.

Coe was also the first country singer to record the Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove-written “Tennessee Whiskey,” which went on to become a hit for both George Jones and Chris Stapleton.

Coe is survived by wife Kimberly and his children, Shelli, Carla, Tanya, Tyler, Shyanne, and Carson.