What a performance.
It’s no stretch to say that the success of Luke Combs‘ cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit, Fast Car, has been nothing short of incredible. The song landed Combs’ another #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart as well as a career-high #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It would also go on to win Single and Song of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards, making Chapman the first female black artist to ever win a CMA Award.
A collaborative performance between the two has been a long time in the making, being teased by Chapman for quite awhile. She posted a video to Instagram back in June which intercut her original performance with Combs’ with the caption, “Who would want to see this collaboration?
Tonight, during the 66th annual Grammy Awards, Chapman made her first live appearance in several years, and the pair finally took the stage together to perform the iconic song.
Before the performance aired, a promo video was shown and detailed Combs’ thoughts on the song. He opened by noting how his dad introduced him to her self titled album which contains the song, “I had a cassette player, and my dad would play me that Tracy Chapman self titled album. That song, “Fast Car,” it was my favorite song before I even knew what a favorite song it was.”
He noted that Chapman has written one of the greatest songs ever recorded and the worldwide impact it has had on so many people, “Tracy’s obviously written one of the best songs for a few generations… You get to see people have the experience that you have with it. It can be felt and related to by all kinds of people around the world.”
He closed the intro video by saying, “Tracy is such an icon and one of the best songwriters that any of us will ever be around to see. It’s just such a cool, full-circle moment for me. Just to be associated with her in any way is super humbling for me.”
Regardless of your thoughts on Combs’ cover and the success from it, it was incredible to watch the two perform the song on one of the biggest stages in all of music. It’s also incredible to see how in awe of Chapman he is throughout the song.
It’s no stretch to say that Chapman is a living legend, and it can be felt through the way that Combs looks at her throughout the performance. Seeing someone as successful as Combs still being that star-struck in the presence of Chapman is nothing short of chill-inducing.