Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit “Fast Car” and her self-titled debut album just got another bump up the charts thanks to her Sunday drive-through at the Grammy Awards.
The original “Fast Car” singer had the audience inside Crypto.com Arena rapt while she sang a duet with Luke Combs, the country star who covered the decades-old classic on his 2023 album “Gettin’ Old.”
The cross-generational pairing — she’s 59, he’s 33 — took the Grammys by storm in the middle of an actual storm in Los Angeles as the second in the evening’s lineup of star-studded performances.
“Very cool and generous of Tracy Chapman to show up and do ‘Fast Car’ with Luke Combs. After all the sniping about who has a right to make money off that incredible song, Combs looks over the moon to be playing it live with its author, and Chapman is getting her flowers all over again in a whole new context here,” Times staff writer August Brown wrote, adding that even country star Jelly Roll was “losing it singing along in the crowd too.”
“Score one for genuine intergenerational admiration,” he wrote.
“Combs sounds great, but I am loving watching him sing along off-mic as he watched Chapman take the lead,” Times music critic Mikael Wood wrote.
And Times columnist Lorraine Ali described Chapman’s singing with Combs as beautiful.
By Monday morning, the “Give Me One Reason” singer — a four-time Grammy winner and the Recording Academy’s 1989 best new artist award recipient — was back on top of the charts, with the new duet again bolstering her album sales.
Her folk anthem — which Combs waxed poetic about during an introductory package for the show — shot to the No. 1 spot on the iTunes Top Songs chart moments after their performance. Chapman’s self-titled debut album from 1988 also hit the No. 1 mark.
“That song, ‘Fast Car,’ it was my favorite song before I even knew what a favorite song was,” Combs said in the intro. “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 added. “Just to be associated with her in any way is super humbling for me.”
Combs notably kept Chapman’s original arrangement of the song intact for his cover, which recounts the harrowing story of a woman trying to escape poverty and create a life different from the one she’s always known. His version was nominated for country solo performance but lost to “White Horse” by Chris Stapleton during the Grammys pre-show ceremony.
By Monday, Chapman’s “Fast Car” had parked itself at the No. 1 spot on the iTunes chart and was trailed by other Grammys ceremony winners and notables, including Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Billy Joel’s “Turn the Lights Back On,” Combs’ version of “Fast Car” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”
When Combs released a cover of the 1988 folk-soul hit, “Fast Car” drove to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
