Tracy Chapman Now: Folk Singer Surprises with 2024 Grammys Performance
In perhaps the most unexpected moment at the 2024 Grammy Awards, folk singer Tracy Chapman, 59, made a rare public appearance to perform her song “Fast Car” with country musician Luke Combs. The 33-year-old country star released a cover of the track nearly a year ago. It went platinum in July 2023 before becoming a No. 1 country hit in September, making Chapman the first Black woman with a sole songwriting credit on a chart-topping country tune. At the February 4 awards ceremony, Combs’ version was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance but lost out to Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse.”
With “Fast Car,” Chapman won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1989. The song’s resurgence in the past year earned Chapman a 2023 CMA Award for Song of the Year, as Combs won for Single of the Year. “It’s truly an honor for my song to be newly recognized 35 years after its debut,” she said in a statement that was read on her behalf at the November ceremony. The folk singer last toured in 2009 and has only performed on camera three times since, according to Variety
Who Is Tracy Chapman?
Four-time Grammy winner Tracy Chapman began writing music and performing in Boston, where she recorded songs at the WMFO radio station. She caught her big break in 1986, when a friend’s father introduced her to a manager at Elektra Records. Her self-titled album released in 1988. The album’s most popular single, “Fast Car,” landed at No. 5 on the U.K. charts and No. 6 on the U.S. charts. Several years later, Chapman released New Beginning, another widely acclaimed album, which was carried by the hit song “Give Me One Reason.” Although that 1995 success has yet to be matched, Chapman stays busy as an activist, speaking and performing on behalf of various organizations.
Early Life
Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland on March 30, 1964. At a young age, she moved with her family to Connecticut. While attending Tufts University in Massachusetts, studying anthropology and African studies, Chapman began writing music and performing in Boston and recorded songs at the local WMFO radio station.
Musical Career: Songs and Albums
Tracy Chapman performs at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in November 1991.
Chapman caught her big break in 1986 when a friend’s father introduced her to a manager at Elektra Records—with whom she recorded her first self-titled album that was released in 1988. Tracy Chapman rose to No. 1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and its popular single, “Fast Car,” landed at No. 5 on the U.K. charts and No. 6 on the U.S. charts. That same year, Chapman performed at Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Tribute Concert, which was held in Great Britain. The album’s second single, “Talkin’ ’Bout a Revolution,” also met with wide acclaim and earned rank on Billboard’s music charts.
The musician received several honors following the release of Tracy Chapman, including three Grammy Awards in 1989. She won Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Fast Car,” and Best Contemporary Folk Recording.
Becoming a three-time Grammy winner is quite an accomplishment for any musician’s first project, but Chapman didn’t waste any time before working on her next one. Between performing songs from her Grammy Award–winning album, she continued to write and make rounds back to the studio to record Crossroads (1989), which she also co-produced. Chapman dedicated one song on the album, “Freedom Now,” to Mandela. Although the album didn’t receive the same acclaim as her first, it did find a place on the Billboard 200, as well as other industry charts.
The singer-songwriter’s musical success again slightly dipped in 1992, with the release of Matters of the Heart, an album that peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard 200 and failed to receive any real international fame. Matters of the Heart included less memorable songs than Chapman’s previous projects, and fans were put off by her straying from folk and blues to a more upbeat, alternative-rock sound.
Three years later, the tune of things changed upon the release of Chapman’s fourth studio album. As the album’s title suggests, New Beginning (1995) proved to be a step back into the limelight for the musician, selling nearly 5 million copies in the United States alone. The album far exceeded the appeal of Chapman’s previous projects, thanks to the widely popular single “Give Me One Reason,” as well as such catchy, soulful tunes as “Smoke and Ashes” and the album’s title track, “New Beginning.” Chapman received her fourth Grammy Award in 1997—this time for Best Rock Song (“Give Me One Reason”)—as well as several Grammy nominations and other music awards.
Chapman’s 1995 success has yet to be matched. Since New Beginning’s release, the musician has released a handful of albums, including Telling Stories (2000) and Our Bright Future (2008), and toured through 2009. In recent years, however, Chapman has largely stayed out of the spotlight.
2023 CMA Award for “Fast Car”
Chapman experienced a resurgence of interest and popularity when country musician Luke Combs released a cover version of “Fast Car” in April 2023. Combs’ version of the song became a huge hit, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and receiving more than 65 million streams on Spotify in less than two months. Chapman became the first Black woman with a sole songwriting credit on a No. 1 country hit as a result of the cover.
Chapman said of Combs’ version of the song: “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”
In November 2023, more than 35 years after the original song’s release, “Fast Car” earned Chapman the CMA Award for Song of the Year, as Combs won for Single of the Year. “I want to thank Tracy Chapman for writing one of the greatest songs of all time,” Combs said in his acceptance speech. “It’s the first favorite song I ever had from the time I was 4 years old.” Chapman didn’t attend the awards show but said in a statement, “It’s truly an honor for my song to be recognized 35 years after its debut.”
Combs then received a 2024 Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance. He and Chapman performed the song together in a surprise duet at the awards ceremony in February.
Social Activist
Outside of her musical career, Chapman has long worked as an activist, speaking and performing on behalf of several nonprofit organizations, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Circle of Life (no longer active). During a 2003 event to benefit Circle of Life, Chapman performed a memorable duet with Bonnie Raitt, of the John Prine song “Angel From Montgomery.”
