David Allan Coe, the outlaw country singer-songwriter best known for the working-class anthem 'Take This Job and Shove It', has died at the age of 86. His wife, Kimberly Hastings Coe, confirmed his death to Rolling Stone on Wednesday, describing him as 'one of the best singers and songwriters of our time'. A representative said he died around 5pm, but the cause of death has not been disclosed.
Coe wrote hits for other artists, 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. His own recordings included 'You Never Even Called Me By My Name', 'The Ride' and 'Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile'. He was also the first to record 'Tennessee Whiskey', later a standard for George Jones and Chris Stapleton.
An outsider in Nashville's music establishment, Coe cultivated a raw, often obscene style and a rebellious image. He spent time in an Ohio prison from 1963 to 1967 for possession of burglary tools, and recorded his first album, 'Penitentiary Blues', using songs written inside. He once said, 'I’d have never made it through prison without my music.'
Coe toured with Willie Nelson, Kid Rock and Neil Young, and appeared in films including 'Stagecoach' and 'Take This Job and Shove It'. His later career was marred by controversy over two R-rated albums he sold via biker magazines, which he later regretted. In 2016, he was ordered to pay the IRS more than $980,000 in restitution for obstructing the tax agency.
His wife posted on Facebook in September 2021 that he had been hospitalised with Covid-19, and he made few appearances afterwards. She urged fans not to forget him: 'I’ll never forget him and I don’t want anyone else to ever forget him either.'
