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Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs duet of ‘Fast Car’ was best Grammys moment in years!

February 5, 2024 | | Print Article

Putting controversy to bed, a Grammy Awards duet of Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs stole the show and added new emotion to a decades-old classic.

In a day and age when sensationalism often takes the spotlight over sentiment the two award winning performers offered a stirring reminder about the unifying power of music. Fifteen years since Chapman’s last tour and months after Combs introduced a new generation to a song that predated his birth, the pair’s performance of “Fast Car” was quick to rack up millions of views.

Lasting just over five minutes, the country star took a backseat to the creator as she smiled her way through cheers, applause and singing along from the music industry attendees including John Legend, Jelly Roll and Taylor Swift.

In addition to being a stirring performance of the 1988 single that led Chapman to win three of her first six Grammy nominations, the duet put a rest to a corporate media generated narrative that Combs had somehow wronged her, under the banner of everything is racist, when he had released a cover of “Fast Car” in July 2023 that went on to be streamed tens of millions of times on Spotify.

The surprise performance had not been listed on the official rundown for the program and, as it was introduced Combs said in a video, “That song, ‘Fast Car,’ it was my favorite song before I even knew what a favorite song was. It can be felt and related to by all kinds of people around the world.”

“It’s just such a cool full circle moment for me,” he went on. “Just to be associated with her in any way is super humbling for me.”

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Chapman had won Song of the Year for her hit single at the 2023 Country Music Association award ceremony after Combs’ cover had sent it to the top of the charts once more.

“This is crazy!!” a Chapman social media page captioned a post from Talk of the Charts that indicated it had done so again, “Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ has reached #1 on US iTunes after a live performance with Luke Combs at the #GRAMMYs…nearly 36 years since release.”

“Award shows are tedious and crass, but the smile on Tracy Chapman’s face when the auditorium goes nuts for her before she takes everyone to school with no lip sync, no auto-tune and no in-ear monitors is a pretty sweet moment to capture live,” reacted one X user.

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Others weighed in to pack on the praise and remind the nation isn’t as far gone as prevalent the spread of certain ideologies would lead you to believe, or as one person put it, “I love this. I love how Tracy and Luke shared it. I even love (God help me) how Taylor Swift was no her feet celebrating this absolute class act. Maybe America will be OK, if we can unite behind a fave song and remember our shared culture and kick the rest of the nasty behind us.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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