Apr 29, 2026 9:03pm PT

David Allan Coe, Controversial Country Star Who Sang ‘The Ride’ and ‘You Never Even Called Me By My Name,’ Dies at 86

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David Allan Coe, Controversial Country Star Who Sang ‘The Ride’ and ‘You Never Even Called Me By My Name,’ Dies at 86

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David Allan Coe, the controversial outlaw country star best known for songs like “The Ride,” “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile” and “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” has died, according to Rolling Stone. He was 86.

Coe, born in 1939 in Akron, Ohio, got his start in 1960s Nashville writing for established artists. His stock rose in 1973 after Tanya Tucker brought his ballad “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” to the top of the country charts. He signed with Columbia Records shortly after and released his first studio album, “The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy,” in 1974. His 1975 album, “One Upon a Rhyme,” featured one of his best-known works in “You Never Even Called Me by My Name.”

David Allan Coe, Controversial Country Star Who Sang 'The Ride' and 'You Never Even Called Me By My Name,' Dies at 86