David Allan Coe

American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, born September 6, 1939 in Akron, Ohio – died April 29, 2026.

One of the most celebrated and controversial artists to emerge from the outlaw country movement; a gifted songwriter and a charismatic performer, Coe was also a man who followed his own path even when it meant traveling the hard way, and his life was full of bad luck and misadventure.

After being sent to the Starr Commonwealth For Boys reform school at the age of nine, he spent much of the next two decades in correctional facilities, including three years at the Ohio Penitentiary. Coe said he received encouragement to begin writing songs from Screamin' Jay Hawkins, with whom he had spent time in prison.

After concluding another prison term in 1967, Coe embarked on a music career in Nashville, living in a hearse which he parked in front of the Ryman Auditorium while he performed on the street. He caught the attention of Shelby Singleton, owner of the independent record label Plantation Records and signed a contract with his label.Coe is a retired member of the Louisville, Kentucky, chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Coe's musical style derives from blues, rock, and country music traditions. His vocal style is described as a 'throaty baritone'. His lyrical content is often humorous or comedic, with William Ruhlmann describing him as a 'near-parody of a country singer'. Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes Coe as "a great, unashamed country singer, singing the purest honky-tonk and hardest country of his era […] he may not be the most original outlaw, but there is none more outlaw than him"