Outlaw Country Singer David Allan Coe Dies at 86

David Allan Coe, the outlaw country singer-songwriter known for hits like "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" and writing anthems such as "Take This Job and Shove It," died Wednesday at age 86. His wife, Kimberly Coe, confirmed the death to Rolling Stone, describing him as "one of the best singers, songwriters, and performers of our time and never to be forgotten."

A representative told People magazine that Coe died around 5 p.m. that day. No cause of death was disclosed, though Coe had faced health challenges in recent years, including a COVID-19 hospitalization in September 2021 announced by his wife on Facebook. He made few public appearances afterward but had previously undergone knee replacement surgery in 2019.

Born September 6, 1939, in Akron, Ohio, Coe endured a turbulent youth marked by time in reform schools starting at age nine and prison stints, including from 1963 to 1967 for possession of burglary tools and other charges. Music sustained him during incarceration. "I'd have never made it through prison without my music," he said in a 1983 Associated Press interview. "No one could take it away from me. They could put me in the hole with nothing to do but I could...