Tracy Chapman

Early life and education

Chapman was born in Cleveland and was raised by her mother, who bought her a ukulele at age three. Her parents divorced when she was four years old. She began playing guitar and writing songs at age eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television show Hee Haw. In her native Cleveland, she experienced frequent bullying and racially motivated assaults as a child.

Raised a Baptist, she attended an Episcopal high school While a student at Tufts, she busked in nearby spots, including Harvard Square and on MBTA Red Line platforms. Chapman recorded demos of songs at the Tufts University radio station, WMFO, for copyright purposes while she was a student at Tufts, in exchange for the station's right to play her songs.

Career

Chapman made her major-stage debut as an opening act for women's music pioneer Linda Tillery at Boston's Strand Theatre on May 3, 1985. Another Tufts student, Brian Koppelman, heard her playing and brought her to the attention of his father, Charles Koppelman, showing him a demo tape he had smuggled from her college radio station containing the song "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution". Charles Koppelman, who ran SBK Publishing, signed her in 1986. After she graduated from Tufts in 1987, he helped her to sign a contract with Elektra Records.

At Elektra, she released Tracy Chapman (1988). The album was critically acclaimed, and she began touring and building a fanbase. "Fast Car" began its rise on the U.S. charts soon after she performed it at the televised Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London in June 1988. At the concert, she initially performed a short set in the afternoon, but reached a larger audience when she was a last-minute stand in for Stevie Wonder, who had technical difficulties. This appearance is credited with greatly accelerating sales of the single and album. "Fast Car" became a No. 6 pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending August 27, 1988. Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 167 on their 2010 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", the follow-up to "Fast Car", charted at No. 75 and was followed by "Baby Can I Hold You", which peaked at No. 48. The album sold well, going multi-platinum and winning three Grammy Awards, including an honor for her as Best New Artist. Later in 1988 she was a featured performer on the worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour.

Her follow-up album, Crossroads (1989), was less commercially successful than her debut had been, but it still achieved platinum status in the U.S. Her fourth album, New Beginning (1995), proved successful, selling over five million copies in the U.S. alone. and going Platinum.

She was commissioned by the American Conservatory Theater to compose music for its production of Athol Fugard's Blood Knot, a play about apartheid in South Africa, staged in early 2008. Atlantic Records released her eighth studio album, Our Bright Future (2008). The album earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album the following year.

She was appointed a member of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Documentary jury. She performed Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" on one of the final episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman in April 2015. The performance became a viral hit and was the focus of various news articles including some by Billboard and The Huffington Post.

On November 20, 2015, she released Greatest Hits, consisting of 18 tracks including the live version of "Stand by Me". The album is her first global compilation release.

In October 2018, she sued the rapper Nicki Minaj over copyright infringement, alleging that Minaj had sampled her song "Baby Can I Hold You" without permission. Chapman stated that she had "repeatedly denied" permission for "Baby Can I Hold You" to be sampled. The lawsuit alleged that Minaj had engaged in copyright infringement (a) by creating the song "Sorry" and (b) by distributing it; she requested an injunction to prevent Minaj from releasing the song. According to the lawsuit, Chapman has a policy of declining all requests for permission to sample her songs. In September 2020, District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips granted summary judgment in favor of Minaj on the first count of her complaint, stating that Minaj's experimentation with Chapman's song constituted fair use rather than copyright infringement. However, the judge ruled that the second count of the complaint should go to trial. In January 2021, the dispute was settled when Minaj paid Chapman $450,000.

On the eve of the 2020 United States presidential election she performed "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" on Late Night with Seth Meyers, encouraging people to vote.

When Luke Combs' version of her song "Fast Car" hit number one on the Country Airplay chart in July 2023, Chapman became the first Black woman to score a country number one with a solo composition. At the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards in November 2023, she became the first Black woman to ever take home a CMA Award, winning Song of the Year for "Fast Car", which also made her the first Black songwriter to win that award. During the 66th Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, she joined Combs onstage to sing "Fast Car".

Social activism

Chapman is politically and socially active. In a 2009 interview with National Public Radio, she said, "I'm approached by lots of organizations and lots of people who want me to support their various charitable efforts in some way. And I look at those requests and I basically try to do what I can. And I have certain interests of my own, generally an interest in human rights." That same year she performed at a tribute concert in honor of South African activist and leader Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday, an event which raised money for South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement and several children's charities. She also performed at the event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International held in Paris on December 10, 1998, known as "The Struggle Continues...". She was one of the guest artists at Pavarotti & Friends for Cambodia and Tibet on June 6, 2000, at which she performed a critically acclaimed duet with Luciano Pavarotti of "Baby Can I Hold You Tonight". In 2004, she performed and rode in the AIDS/LifeCycle event.

She has been involved with Cleveland's elementary schools, producing an educational music video highlighting achievements in African-American history. She sponsored "Crossroads in Black History", an essay contest for high school students in Cleveland and other cities.

She received an honorary doctorate from Saint Xavier University in Chicago in 1997. In 2004 she was given an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts by her alma mater, Tufts University, recognizing her commitment to social activism.

On April 16, 2023, the South African Presidency announced that Chapman along with others would be bestowed with a National Order – The Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo which "recognizes eminent foreign nationals for friendship shown to South Africa. It is therefore an Order of peace, cooperation and active expression of solidarity and support." The Order was bestowed in Silver on her "for her contribution to the fight for freedom by participating in efforts to free Nelson Mandela and raising awareness of human rights violations globally." An investiture ceremony for the bestowment was held on April 28, 2023.

Chapman often performs at charity events such as Make Poverty History, amfAR, and AIDS/LifeCycle. She is a feminist.

Personal life

Although Chapman has never publicly discussed her sexual orientation, writer Alice Walker has said she and Chapman were in a romantic relationship during the mid-1990s. Chapman maintains a strong separation between her personal and professional life. "I have a public life that's my work life and I have my personal life", she said. "In some ways, the decision to keep the two things separate relates to the work I do." Chapman lives in San Francisco.

Legacy

A street has been named after Tracy Chapman in Saint-Jean-d'Heurs, a rural commune of France.

Discography

Main article: Tracy Chapman discography

Studio albums

• Tracy Chapman (1988)
• Crossroads (1989)
• Matters of the Heart (1992)
• New Beginning (1995)
• Telling Stories (2000)
• Let It Rain (2002)
• Where You Live (2005)
• Our Bright Future (2008)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Other awards and nominations

References

References

1. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tracy-chapman-mn0000016281
2. "Bob Krasnow, Veteran Record Executive, Has Died".
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5. Pond, Steve. (September 22, 1988). "Tracy Chapman: On Her Own Terms".
6. Martin, Michel. (August 20, 2009). "Without Further Ado, Songster Tracy Chapman Returns". [[NPR]].
7. Fleming, Amy. (October 31, 2008). "Amy Fleming on Tracy Chapman, the quiet revolutionary". [[The Guardian]].
8. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Tracy Chapman". [[AllMusic.
9. (August 18, 2019). "Tracy Chapman: Our 1988 Interview". Spin.
10. (2003-02-23). "Tracy Chapman: On snakes, faith and busking for food".
11. Rosenwald, Michael S.. (November 26, 2003). "To Chapman, underground music is pure performance". [[The Boston Globe]].
12. (November 16, 1989). "100 Best Albums of the Eighties: Tracy Chapman, 'Tracy Chapman'". Rolling Stone.
13. McLaughlin, Jeff. (May 1, 1985). "Linda Tillery's 'healing music'". [[The Boston Globe]].
14. Murphy, Peter. "On this day in 1988: Tracy Chapman starts a three-week run at No. 1 with her eponymous debut album".
15. Clayton, Richard. (2016-09-26). "The Life of a Song: 'Fast Car'". [[Financial Times]].
16. Springer, Jacqueline. (June 12, 2018). "BBC Radio 4 – Front Row, Tracy Chapman: remembering her remarkable debut 30 years on".
17. Clayton-Lea, Tony. "Tracy Chapman: 'Being in the public eye is uncomfortable for me'". [[The Irish Times]].
18. (August 27, 1988). "The Hot 100 Chart".
19. (April 7, 2011). "500 Greatest Songs of All Time: Tracy Chapman, 'Fast Car'".
20. "Tracy Chapman". [[The Recording Academy]].
21. {{cite certification
22. Browne, David. (May 1, 1992). "Matters of the Heart".
23. Zack, Jessica Werner. (2008). "A Guiding Hopefulness: An Interview with Tracy Chapman on ''Blood Knot''". American Conservatory Theater.
24. (March 30, 2014). "Happy Birthday To Danbury's Tracy Chapman".
25. (January 9, 2014). "Tracy Chapman, Dana Stevens, Bryan Singer, Max Mayer and More Among 2014 Sundance Film Festival Jurors". [[BroadwayWorld]].
26. Pitney, Nico. (June 12, 2015). "Tracy Chapman Singing 'Stand By Me' Will Break Your Heart". [[HuffPost]].
27. (October 16, 2015). "Tracy Chapman Greatest Hits releases on November 20, 2015". About Tracy Chapman.
28. (October 23, 2018). "Tracy Chapman sues Nicki Minaj over unauthorised sample". The Guardian.
29. Maddaus, Gene. (September 16, 2020). "Judge Rules in Favor of Nicki Minaj in Tracy Chapman Copyright Dispute". [[Variety (magazine).
30. Brodsky, Rachel. (January 9, 2021). "Nicki Minaj to pay Tracy Chapman $450k in 'Sorry' copyright infringement lawsuit". [[The Independent]].
31. (2020-11-03). "Tracy Chapman makes rare TV appearance as she urges Americans to vote".
32. Newman, Melinda. (July 3, 2023). "Tracy Chapman Now First Black Woman to Hit No. 1 on Country Airplay as Sole Writer — Who Is the Only Black Male Writer to Have Achieved the Same?".
33. Bernstein, Jonathan. (June 30, 2023). "Tracy Chapman Will Become the First Black Woman to Score a Number One Country Song as Sole Writer".
34. Yahr, Emily. (2023-11-09). "CMA Awards 2023: Complete list of winners, best and worst moments". [[The Washington Post]].
35. Ives, Mike. (2023-11-09). "35 Years After Its Debut, Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car' Wins a Song of the Year Award". [[The New York Times]].
36. Hudak, Joseph. (2024-02-04). "Tracy Chapman Performs 'Fast Car' Live for First Time in Nine Years at 2024 Grammys With Luke Combs".
37. Flam, Charna. (4 February 2024). "Tracy Chapman Delivers Rare 'Fast Car' Performance with Luke Combs at 2024 Grammys".
38. (June 30, 2005). "Live Aid's Legacy of Charity Concerts". [[BBC News]].
39. McGregor, Claire. (July 11, 2022). "Tracy Chapman and Luciano Pavarotti's Gorgeous Duet of Baby Can I Hold You".
40. "AIDS LifeCycle 2004". [[YouTube]].
41. (1990). "School Uses Video To Teach Black History". Curriculum Review.
42. "Previous honorary degree recipients". Saint Xavier University.
43. (May 23, 2004). "Commencement Speaker Announced". Tufts University.
44. Younge, Gary. (September 28, 2002). "A Militant Mellow". [[The Guardian]].
45. (April 16, 2023). "Announcement of the 2023 National Order Awards nominated names by Director-General of The Presidency, Phindile Baleni". Presidency of South Africa.
46. Wajid, Sara. (December 15, 2006). "No retreat". [[The Guardian.
47. Brownworth, Victoria A.. (February 15, 2024). "Tracy Chapman, Valentine's Day and the subversive stories of our lives". Philadelphia Gay News.
48. (2002-10-15). "2002 - Tracy Chapman still introspective?".
49. Sisario, Ben. (February 6, 2024). "Where Has Tracy Chapman Been? Her Grammys Triumph Has Fans Wondering". The New York Times.
50. (October 8, 2023). "Rue Tracy Chapman: Saint-Jean-d'Heurs (63364)". data.gouv.fr.
51. "Billboard Music Awards – 1988 Awards". [[IMDb]].
52. "Soul Train Awards – 1989 Awards". [[IMDb]].
53. "Brit Awards – 1989 Awards". [[IMDb]].
54. "MTV Video Music Awards – 1989 Awards". [[IMDb]].
55. "American Music Awards – 1989 Awards". [[IMDb]].
56. "MTV Video Music Awards – 1996 Awards". [[IMDb]].
57. "Nominations – 1996". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS).
58. (April 26, 2001). "Tracy Chapman @ California Music Awards 2001". About Tracy Chapman.
59. (April 9, 2024). "Luke Combs, Tracy Chapman, Morgan Wallen Score ACM Award Nominations".
60. "Songwriters Hall Of Fame 2024 Nominees For Induction Announced".