Country rebel David Allan Coe passed away Wednesday at the age of 86, his wife confirmed to Rolling Stone.

“One of the best singers, songwriters, and performers of our time [and] never to be forgotten,” Kimberly Hastings Coe wrote to the magazine. “My husband, my friend, my confidant and my life for many years. I'll never forget him and I don't want anyone else to ever forget him either.” 

He's perhaps best known for the perennial bar sing-along "You Never Even Called Me by My Name," with its spoken word section that Ella Langley pointed to as one of the inspirations for her non-traditional smash "you look like you love me." 

Born in Akron, Ohio, in 1939, Coe did early stints in the penal system for a variety of charges, grand theft auto among them. 

By 1967 he'd moved to Nashville, where he was discovered by producer Shelby Singleton. By 1973, he'd written Tanya Tucker's #1 "Would You Lay With Me (in a Field of Stone)."

The top-10 success of his own "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" came in 1975, followed by another one of his major triumphs in 1977: Johnny Paycheck took Coe's "Take This Job and Shove It" to #1, as well. 

Though he continued making albums until 2006, collaborating with members of the rock band Pantera on the Rebel Meets Rebel project, his last major musical success was 1983's top-five hit "The Ride," an ode to Hank Williams.

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