David Allan Coe, country music legend, dead at 86

Outlaw country music legend and pioneer songwriter David Allan Coe has died. He was 86.

Coe died in an intensive care unit at around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, his representative confirmed to the Music Universe.

“David is a musical treasure,” the representative said. “Even in his years of declining health, David appreciated all of the fans.”

A cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

The “Longhaired Redneck” singer’s health had been in decline in recent years. In 2021, Coe was hospitalized during a battle with COVID. He previously underwent knee replacement surgery in 2019.

Coe leaves behind his wife Kimberly Hastings Coe, son Tyler Mahan Coe and daughter Tanya Coe.

Despite never breaking through on mainstream radio, Coe became a pillar of the outlaw country movement after arriving in Nashville from Ohio in 1967, releasing 42 studio albums over a career spanning nearly six decades.

This is a developing story