David Allan Coe has passed away at the age of 86.

According to multiple reports, he died around 5pm ET today (Wed, April 29) in the hospital. No official cause of death has been released at this time. pic.twitter.com/Qfsojk10b0

— Country Chord (@CountryChord) April 30, 2026

Was looking through his discography earlier tonight and came across one of his outlaw albums. Yikes.

Now I know why they called it outlaw country.

No way. Where the Sidewalk Ends is my favorite book ever and I still have a copy sitting on my coffee table. I refuse to believe this.

Hope they build a memorial statue in Centennial Park

Saw him at Wolfpen Creep Ampitheater back in the mid 90's.... he was an old man then.

Worst concert I ever saw. Just DAC and a drum machine propped up on a picnic table. Dude was messed up. Sometime in the late 90's.

lol so much uninformed speculation or low effort to find truth.

The truth is Coe never attributed any of his bawdy stuff to Silverstein, and Silverstein is not on record as having any writing credits to that material. He may have encouraged Coe to record it, but he is not a co-writer.

Silverstein wasn't black.

Coe wasn't "Outlaw Country" because of his adult themed albums. People can research what that movement was for themselves.

Prove it

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Worst concert I ever saw. Just DAC and a drum machine propped up on a picnic table. Dude was messed up. Sometime in the late 90's.

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Same here. Saw him in '03 or so with the full band. He sounded drunk when he started, and kept drinking whiskey the whole time. He said he was only going to sing songs that he wrote. He'd strum a bit, then do one verse, strum a bit, and go to the next song.
The best part was when some people sitting up by the stage let talking. Come finally blew up, cussed them up one side and down the other, and told them to go to the back or shut the eff up. Lots of m'effers thrown in. Turned into the funniest show I've ever been to.

zero idea who that is

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Worst concert I ever saw. Just DAC and a drum machine propped up on a picnic table. Dude was messed up. Sometime in the late 90's.

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Saw him in Florida about 7-8 years ago and he did the same thing. He had his wife (?) stand next to him the whole time and guide him. It was sad and odd. Of course he was older and apparently not very healthy but I remember thinking it was the most odd show I have ever seen. He looked lost in every sense of the word.

Pretty good article...

David Allan Coe is no longer with us. RIP to one of country music's most iconoclastic characters ever.

An honest remembrance: https://t.co/SkDsgMbrie

— Saving Country Music (@KyleCoroneos) April 30, 2026

About 95% of my country music repertoire comes from the Chicken from '84-'88. Which included a heavy rotation of DAC!

I don't see the point in labeling somebody an R when they just passed away. I'll leave it up to the Lord to judge him. Only the Lord understands the mental gymnastics we use today to label somebody an R are more complex than the algorithms used in AI. They didn't play that crap at the Chicken and 99% of the people there didn't even know about the R songs.

ErnestEndeavor said:

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No way. Where the Sidewalk Ends is my favorite book ever and I still have a copy sitting on my coffee table. I refuse to believe this.

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You probably shouldn't read too much about Shel Silverstein's personal life. The dude was slangin' some D.

I was acquainted with his daughter Shelly briefly in the late 90's. I'll have to write up that little story later.

THE_CHOSEN_ONE said:

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Little known fact is that Shel Silverstein wrote his racist country music albums.

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uhh.. that's not exactly how wiki portrays it. Simply, DAC was inspired by Shel's comedy albums, and decided to do his own, with encouragement from Shel.

Shel Silverstein was Jewish...

What possible indication could you have of that?

ErnestEndeavor said:

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No way. Where the Sidewalk Ends is my favorite book ever and I still have a copy sitting on my coffee table. I refuse to believe this.

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They were both X rated but I think you are falling for one of the big internet myths by saying "DAC's racist's albums." I can almost guarantee you are counting the "Johnny Reb" albums and giving DAC credit for those. Totally different person.

There were only two songs on those DAC underground albums that even mention anything race related. And one of them is only about a ****ty girl and the singer not wanting sloppy seconds after someone else with a big (black) pecker. Now there were a lot of extreme sexual stuff on those albums, but not really all that much race stuff outside of 1 song that was obviously humor based and not serious.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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What possible indication could you have of that?

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Well wiki says he's Jewish and this pic below. Why does it even matter? Every American is some percentage of everything. What percentage does he have to be to be considered black? Ms Warren ran on being Native American and pushed it to get elected. After taking a test, she was like 1-3% Indian American if I remember correctly. The majority of Americans are some percentage of everything. I ain't getting DNA tested because I don't really care. I don't need a scholarship and I ain't running for office

Ah, yes…Wiki. The Gold Standard for truth. And a black and white picture to boot.

I believe you now.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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Ah, yes…Wiki. The Gold Standard for truth. And a black and white picture to boot.

I believe you now.

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again, what does it matter? every American has some % of everything in them. what percentage level says he's one or the other? and did he take a dna test? Pocahontas all over again....it's a ridiculous argument to begin with that can't be settled without some kind of dna test. go dig him up and take one.

TyHolden said:

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Wolfpac 08 said:

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Ah, yes…Wiki. The Gold Standard for truth. And a black and white picture to boot.

I believe you now.

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again, what does it matter? every American has some % of everything in them. what percentage level says he's one or the other?

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Kinda like how if you're 50% of a race you can use which ever is to your advantage. Like our first black president did!

RIP Mister Coe. Will be blarin your tunes outta the Cave tonight.. Neighbors..... YOU ARE MOST WELCOME!

Gnome Sayin said:

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TyHolden said:

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I don't see the point in labeling somebody an R when they just passed away. I'll leave it up to the Lord to judge him. Only the Lord understands the mental gymnastics we use today to label somebody an R are more complex than the algorithms used in AI. They didn't play that crap at the Chicken and 99% of the people there didn't even know about the R songs.

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omg the r word

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Not sure what year it was but the first time I saw him perform was Willie's 4th in luckenbach. (**** I spelled it right first try. F apple for not knowing the correct spelling.)

His band had like 4 guitarists!!! Or I was seeing double from having fun in the Willie way.

ErnestEndeavor said:

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No way. Where the Sidewalk Ends is my favorite book ever and I still have a copy sitting on my coffee table. I refuse to believe this.

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Shel Silverstein had a pretty extreme naughty streak. He used to be a contributor to Penthouse magazine back in his prime