In February of 2024, Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman captivated fans all over the world with a truly incredible performance of her classic “Fast Car,” which Luke turned into a country hit after including his rendition on his 2023 Gettin’ Old record. It organically became a massive hit and juggernaut at country radio, flying up the country charts at an insane pace, so much so that his label actually sent it to Top 40 pop and Hot Adult Contemporary radio, as well. It peaked at #1 US Country Airplay chart and #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 all-genre chart.
Released in 1988, “Fast Car” was the lead single from Chapman’s aforementioned self-titled debut studio album. At the 31st annual Grammy Awards in 1989, she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Fast Car,” best contemporary folk album for Tracy Chapman and best new artist.
Luke was initially very skeptical that she would agree to it, considering it was the first time she’d appeared live to sing for the first time in nine years, but of course, he was hoping they could somehow pull it off:
“My team was like ‘The Grammys are thinking about doing this,’ and I just remember thinking, like, it’s not gonna happen. She just doesn’t do anything. They were like, ‘would you be interested?’ and I was like, ‘Well, f****** obviously I’d be interested, but it’s not gonna happen.’”
During an appearance on The Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked Luke about the moment and what it meant to him, and like called it a top ‘1 or 2’ moment in his career, and I completely agree… it was stunning:
“That moment with Tracy is up there in my top 5 career moments without a doubt, I mean if it’s not 1 or 2. It was just like, one of the most pure musical moments that I’ve ever had in my career, and probably will ever have in my career, for sure.
I fangirled for sure, asking her about how’d you make this record and why’d you decide to do this, which is awesome to get, to have know, you hardly ever get to have those conversations with people that you admire. And so that was really cool, man.
And I feel like we just connected on that call. And she agreed to do it. A few weeks later, she agreed to do it. Flew out to Los Angeles on a Tuesday. Obviously, the show was on Sunday. We rehearsed for a couple of days. Just that, just to get it right, get it perfect.”
The fan reaction immediately following the performance was extremely positive, I still think about it every year when the Grammys rolls around. The admiration the two artists have for each other was apparent as Chapman looked genuinely happy to be there and kept smiling at Luke throughout the entire thing (and vice versa).
Luke reflected on the performance not long after it occurred a couple of years ago, calling it a “defining moment” of his career, in addition to giving Tracy her well-deserved flowers, explaining how grateful he was to have the best seat in the house” that night up there with her:
“Tracy, I want to send my sincerest thanks to you for allowing me to be a part of your moment. Thank you for the impact you have had on my musical journey, and the musical journeys of countless other singers, songwriters, musicians, and fans alike.
I hope you felt how much you mean to the world that night. We were all in awe of you up there and I was just the guy lucky enough to have the best seat in the house.”
Tracy responded simply and humbly, saying:
“The kindest words from Luke. Thank YOU for everything!”
You can read Luke’s full post here:
The kindest words from @lukecombs : « What an unreal Grammy week to say the least. There were so many laughs, tears, hugs, and cheers that it almost doesn’t seem real (…) When it comes to the performance it’s still hard to process how amazing it really was to be up there on that… pic.twitter.com/TqaKOm7neG
— Tracy Chapman (@tchapmanonline) February 10, 2024
The Aftermath
While maybe an unlikely duo in some aspects, they were spectacular together, and it’s evident that through Luke’s cover, as well as Tracy stepping back into the spotlight that night, an entirely new generation of fans fell in love with both versions of “Fast Car,” as Chapman’s original version of the song shot to the top of the U.S. iTunes chart after their performance (Luke’s previously went #1 at country radio and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100).
Because of Luke’s cover, “Fast Car” was nominated for multiple awards at the 2023 CMA Awards, and because it won Song of the Year, she became the first Black songwriter to win Song of the Year in the awards’ 57-year history. Luke also won Single of the Year for his version of the track at the ceremony.
Easily the coolest thing about the whole thing, many people have started going back and listening to Tracy’s timeless catalog as a result, which landed her original version of “Fast Car” at the top of the iTunes charts that week, with sales and downloads going up 38,000% following her Grammy performance. Just an astronomical number and very well-deserved for an extremely talented artist who penned one of the greatest songs of all-time.
She sounded exactly the same as she did on the original recording from 1988, and there was a palpable magic between them that I cannot get enough of. Of course, with the show coming up this Sunday, I have been reflecting back on it and two years later, it remains as timeless as it was in 2024, and I have no doubt that will remain the case for years to come.
Country music is noticeably absent in terms of the performers at the Grammys this year, and there are no country artist nominated in the big four all-genre categories in Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, though there is a brand new country category this year called Best Traditional Country Album which has some stellar nominees. You can view the full list of nominees HERE.
The show will take place this Sunday, February 1st live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. The main ceremony airs at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+, with Trevor Noah taking over as host once again.
There was just magic in the air on that fateful night two years, and they captured something truly spectacular, which I believe is a once-in-a-lifetime performance that was understated in terms of production, but incredibly powerful because of the lyrics and voices that delivered them with so much weight and power that you can’t help but feel every bit of the emotion.
It lives rent free in my head, as you can probably tell… I don’t care who performs, what song it is, or anything else in the future, there will never be another Grammys performance like this, and that’s a promise.
Timeless, transcendent, sublime… it’s perfect in every way: