Tracy Chapman in New York City in 2007.
Photo: Getty Images, Bryan Bedder. All rights reserved.
Tracy Chapman’s song “Fast Car” continues to celebrate success. Not only was the track a hit back in 1988, but it still has almost 760 million streams on Spotify today. This year, the song was thrown back into the spotlight by Luke Combs’ cover version. 35 years after its release, it was awarded the “Song of the Year” award at the Country Music Awards. Chapman is the first Black songwriter to achieve this.
The annual awards ceremony took place in Nashville on Wednesday evening (November 8th). Although the 59-year-old was not present in person to accept her award, she was represented by Sara Evans. “I’m sorry I can’t be there tonight. It is truly an honor that my song is being recognized again 35 years after its debut,” the moderator reads out Chapman’s speech. She would also ““Thank you to all the fans of Fast Car” and Luke Combs.
The country singer didn’t go away empty-handed that evening either. His rendition of “Fast Car” won Single of the Year at the CMAs. While accepting the award, he addressed the creator of his favorite song and thanked her for writing “one of the best songs of all time.” “I only recorded it because I loved the song. “It’s the first favorite song I ever had when I was four years old,” said the musician. Combs’ cover reached top spots on several music charts in 2023 – including Billboard’s Country Airplay Charts, which lists the most played songs on U.S. country radio stations.
Tracy Chapman could not have predicted that “Fast Car” would get such a boost from the cover version. Nevertheless, she was already satisfied with Billboard magazine in July 2023. She is “happy for [Combs] and their success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car’,” said the singer.