When I get to heaven, prop me up beside the jukebox next to all the lost country legends.
Right about now, Toby Keith and David Allan Coe are probably doing the same and reminiscing about the wild stories they made over the years as genre staples. In the meantime, for everyone currently mourning the loss of Coe this past Wednesday night, April 29, and of course, still feeling the heavy-hitting weight of Toby Keith’s passing two years after his death on February 5, 2024, the internet thankfully holds plenty of unforgettable remnants of both legends’ legacies.
Prior to both artists’ differing health struggles, a then 48-year-old Keith and almost 70-year-old Coe teamed up for a pretty epic live rendition of his hit, “You Never Even Called Me By My Name.” At the height of Keith’s 2009 America’s Toughest Tour, the pair joined forces in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to serenade the crowd with this 1975 classic.
While Coe was a well-known writer throughout his time, this track was actually penned by Steve Goodman and John Prine (who at the time preferred to be uncredited on the song due to its cliche country humor). Still, Coe found success in the 5-minute-long track, releasing it as the third single of his career and reaching number eight on the Billboard country singles chart.
In this time capsule of a video, the two seem to be having the time of their lives, leading the crowd in the verse, “Well, I’ve heard my name a few times in your phone book, and I’ve seen it on signs where I’ve played.” Given that the 40-second glimpse is only a teaser of the performance, luckily, this wasn’t the first time the often outspoken icons shared a stage.
Back in 2005, Keith and Coe, along with Merle Haggard, Billy Joe Shaver, and Jack Ingram, rocked the CMT stage for an outlaw performance of Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues.” While, unfortunately, nothing could top this kind of collaboration in today’s world, at least we can take a trip down memory lane to these two standout moments of the late legend’s careers.