Country legend David Allan Coe’s daughter claims neither she nor her seven siblings had access to their father before his death.
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Coe, who died last month at 86, was perhaps best known for writing Tanya Tucker’s 1973 single “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” and Johnny Paycheck’s 1977 single “Take This Job and Shove It.” He was also known for his racist and obscene songs, though he tried to distance himself from that music later in life.
Meanwhile, his daughter, Tanya Montana Coe, raised eyebrows after posting on social media that she was not told about her father’s passing or “given the opportunity to see him one last time.”
She recently opened up about how she and her siblings fell out of touch with the late outlaw country legend.
“The last time I ‘spoke’ with him was when I was texting with him when he was in the hospital after [his 2013] car accident,” she recently told Entertainment Weekly. “But I don’t know if I was actually talking to him or if it was someone else pretending to be him from his phone.”
Coe says her father kept his distance from her and all her siblings. “I don’t know if I should speak for them, but none of us eight children had access to him,” she told the outlet. “My sister Carla and I finally tracked down an address for him and performed two wellness checks on him in the last year and a half.”
David Allan Coe’s Daughter Still Proud of Her Father Despite Estrangement
Despite their complicated relationship, the country star’s daughter, also a musician, says she is proud of her father’s accomplishments.
“All of us children loved and will continue to love our dad more than this dimension can contain,” she told EW. “I know he loved us and was proud of us. I know he was suffering emotionally inside, always. He had an extremely traumatic childhood/early adult life, and I am so proud of what he made of himself as an artist.”
All we kids ever really wanted was for him to feel free in his soul and in his spirit and be happy, and we hope he can be now,” she added.
When asked for comment, David Allan Coe’s former manager, Ken Madson, shared his thoughts.
“I was David’s manager of record for a time during the end of his career. He was estranged from his children when I started working with him, and I never knew the reason(s) why,” he told EW. “Any feelings any of his children have about their father passing are valid, and my heart goes out to them.”
Madson revealed that he also fell out of contact with the singer.
“I wish there was something I could do, but like many in David’s life, I lost touch with him,” Madson added.