Tracy Chapman’s Massachusetts Ties Run Deep

Tracy Chapman is back on top in the music business thanks to the success of a new version of an old Chapman song. In 2023, country music sensation Luke Combs recorded Chapman's 1988 hit "Fast Car."

Combs' take on the song earned the Country Music Association's award for Top Song of the Year and Top Single of the Year.

Chapman's original "Fast Car" was nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy in 1989. The song won a Billboard Music Award for Best Female Video and an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Female Video.

The international music community has recognized Chapman's talent as a songwriter and performer.

Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 30, 1964. When she was 3, her mother, who raised her, bought Chapman a ukulele. The following year, Tracy's parents divorced.

Signed to Elektra Records in 1987, Chapman's first album, "Tracy Chapman," featuring "Fast Car," was a hit.

Chapman graduated from Wooster School, a private high school in Danbury, Connecticut, and majored in anthropology at Boston's Tufts University. According to the Boston Globe, Chapman's first major debut was at Boston's Strand Theater on May 3, 1985.

While attending Tufts, Chapman was a street performer, busking underground on the MBTA Red Line subway platforms and at Harvard Square.

Combs has said he never sought direct permission from Chapman to record "Fast Car" but says he wasn't required to. There appears to be no hard feelings as Chapman told Billboard in July 2023, "I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I'm honored to be there."

Chapman said, "I'm happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced 'Fast Car.'"

Combs and Chapman blew the roof off the 2024 Grammy Award on Sunday, February 4, 2024, by performing a duet of "Fast Car." Immediately following the broadcast, Chapman's version of "Fast Car" shot to No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart.