Tracy Chapman celebrated the revival of her hit “Fast Car” with a rare live performance.
Tracy Chapman Nowadays only appears on very special occasions – and the 66th. Grammys were such a moment. Her song “Fast Car,” which was released in 1988, made it back into the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023 thanks to Luke Combs and was therefore honored with a nomination in the “Best Solo Country Performance” category.
Tracy Chapman has only performed live on camera three times since 2009. The 59-year-old singer-songwriter, who now lives in San Francisco, prefers to enjoy her normal life. She made a special exception for the 2024 Grammy Awards – while she played guitar and sang, she was supported by Luke Combs.
Tracy Chapman: “Fast Car” makes history
Luke Combs’ cover version of “Fast Car” reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023, surpassing the peak position of Tracy Chapman’s original, which peaked at number six in 1988. The song’s success on the country charts alone made history, as the song made Tracy Chapman the first Black woman to be the sole songwriter on a country hit that went to number one. Luke Combs changed almost nothing to the original song structure for his version – in doing so he paid tribute to the song that was so important to him.
The singer and guitarist had previously told “Billboard” that she never expected to find herself in the country charts. “I’m excited for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced Fast Car.”
“Fast Car” already had a small revival in 2015. At that time, Jonas Blue and Dakota covered the song. In 2023, thanks to Luke Combs, the song even won the award in the “Best Song of the Year” category at the Country Music Association Awards. The Country Award has been presented since 1967 – but in all those years no person of color has managed to receive this award. The success of Tracy Chapman’s song is remarkable in many ways.