(1/2) Everything there is to say about Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs' performance at the 2024 Grammys
There is so much to say about this performance that it requires 2 newsletters! So here is the first part : from rumors to the show.
A week has already passed since THE long-awaited moment, which we dared not hope for and which arrived: Tracy Chapman's return to the spotlight. Not entirely as we might have imagined (we've been dreaming of a new album and a new tour for a decade now), but no, it was very different: it was a celebration of her essence, the live performance of 'Fast Car,' her most iconic song, the one that has changed so many lives, in a duet with Luke Combs, at the Grammy Awards!!
To watch it on your computer, here is the best link.
It was a moment I'll never forget. I watched this performance for the very first time, live and while looking at my friend Viviana's television screen in San Diego via FaceTime (hey, we do what we can! I'm based in France and I couldn't find a way to watch it via a VPN service so thank you good old friend for this privilege of sharing this precious moment with you).
From the very first seconds, the emotion truly overwhelmed me. It was like reuniting with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. It was like coming back home again. An indescribable feeling that millions of people experienced, and you did as well, didn’t you?
In this newsletter, I will share with you the stages of how we experienced this exceptional event and what to take away from it.
I don’t want to go back over the detailed chronological sequence of Luke Combs' cover of 'Fast Car'; that was the subject of a previous newsletter. But here’s the quick story if you missed a part of it:
"Fast Car" by Luke Combs was released in March 2023, and it was a hit. It remained at the top of the charts for weeks, even reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The pinnacle came on November 8, 2023, when ‘Fast Car’ won its 2 first Country Music Awards as Single of the Year (for Luke) and Song of the Year (for Tracy). But what we thought was THE crowning achievement at the time turned out not to be exactly that. Well, yes, of course, it was HUGE! It made headlines in all the newspapers, generated a lot of buzz on social media. At the CMA ceremony, Luke didn't perform 'Fast Car’ live, Tracy didn't come to collect her award. While we hoped to see her and secretly dreamed of a duo on stage, the disappointment was intense. But I must admit that I wasn't completely hopeless. I remember telling Stefan (who co-manages the Tracy Chapman online community with me):
"Alright then, it will be for the Grammys. The Grammys or never!!"
But I had no idea back then what was happening behind the scenes!!
It all started with a rumor
It was supposed to be a surprise, and the secret had been well kept; all the participants in this event had signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Except that on January 31st, 2024, Variety published this article :
"Tracy Chapman, who has not performed in public in years, will return into the spotlight to perform a duet of “Fast Car” with Luke Combs at the Grammys on Sunday night, sources tell Variety. (...) Representatives for the Recording Academy could not be reached for comment."
I nearly spit out my coffee when I read the news! Wait, WHAAAT???!!! In the hours that followed, neither the Recording Academy nor the teams of Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman denied the rumor. That meant it was true! So major media outlets picked up the information and shared it massively, such as CNN, Rolling Stone, Billboard… We did it as well, of course!! We had to tell you!!
"It was just a totally super secret surprise that happened to be on the front page at CNN." (Joe Gore, Tracy Chapman's guitarist)
I know that somewhere they must have been upset that it leaked (or was it done on purpose??). But I have to admit very selfishly that thankfully for us, it did! I can't even imagine what it would have been like to wake up the next day and realize that this exceptional event had happened without being able to experience it live! On the contrary, all week, fans mentally prepared themselves and also organized to watch the ceremony live. How many people said they would only watch the Grammys to see Tracy, that they haven't watched them in years... I would never have been online at 2 a.m. (I live in France) to experience the event live. If we hadn't known, we would never have felt the joys of waiting and hoping, nor the excitement and emotion of the live event. So thank you to the little fairy who didn't respect the clauses of her NDA. I hope she didn't get caught!
The performance itself
The wait was a bit long because there was the Premiere Ceremony before the official ceremony, during which dozens and dozens of awards were presented and a few performances were done. The official ceremony started at 5:00 PM local time, and at exactly 5:18 PM, a short documentary about Luke Combs telling the story of his attachment to the song 'Fast Car' and what the artist means to him was aired. He said:
"Tracy Chapman is such an icon and one of the greatest artists that I think any of us will be along to see. It's a full circle moment for me, just to be associated with her in any way is super humbling for me. The beloved tune is known for its delicate acoustic guitar Melody and substantive lyrics meditating on familial strife, poverty and dreams of creating a better life alongside a loved one". Luke Combs
He actually pinned on his Instagram profile the post showing THE original cassette he used to listen to in the car with his father.
And then it begins. A close-up on the neck of her Judy Threet guitar, Tracy's recognizable fingers strumming the chords of the unique riff of 'Fast Car'. The roar of the crowd of about 20,000 people rising, escalating to outright cheering as the camera zooms out (I imagine the spotlight shining on her on stage?). Tracy's radiant smile, her gaze perhaps slightly misty, her emotion palpable in the opening words of the first verse she sings, "You got a fast car...". She is deeply moved. It did look like she was tearing up a bit at the beginning when everyone was cheering.
Meanwhile, the hall is roaring. And for us, behind our screens, it is an emotional rollercoaster, a mix of teary-eyed, I can't believe it! / It's so good! / Gosh she's radiant / Her voice hasn't changed / The white crown suits her so well / Oh how I missed her!
And we move forward in the song: Luke Combs, attentive and focused, sings the second verse, as he does in his cover. Their two voices blend very well as they sing in the same key (which is not Luke's original key, he indeed had to sing it in a lower key for this performance).
Between the verses, my attention turns to the musicians whose sounds I hear but can't see well on the screen, unfortunately left in the shadows on stage:
Denny Fongheiser's drum rhythm, which I recognized from the first seconds (for good reason, see below) ;
Joe Gore's guitar, always to Tracy's right,
Larry Campbell's haunting fiddle, which adds a country tone to this version that the original didn't have,
Similarly, Kurt Ozan's pedal steel, a rather rare instrument in Tracy's songs,
And Larry Klein's bass providing the binding mattress between everyone and everything, keeping us suspended awaiting the arrival of the chorus.
Tracy moves on to the third verse while Luke Combs, very touching, as a perfect fanboy can't help but sing along with these same lyrics in playback, looking at Tracy, his hands strumming the chords on her guitar, as if to reassure himself that it's not a dream, he's really having a dream come true moment! He looked at her with an awe-struck reverence, almost like a sincere desire to know if he was doing her song justice.
Combs moves on to the fourth verse, then comes the chorus, which Tracy starts alone with "So I remember when we were..." and Luke joins her from "driving, driving in your car...". While the camera focuses for a few seconds on Taylor Swift, standing among the guests, singing along as if she were at a concert. But it isn’t just Taylor singing, there was also Lana Del Rey, Meryl Streep, and everyone else too! Tracy and Luke exchange a few fleeting yet meaningful glances, and at the end of this chorus, the crowd roars once again.
Combs launches into the fifth verse, the famous verse containing the line "So I work in the market as a checkout GIRL" that he hadn't changed in his cover and had caused so much talk (because it's so courageous for a man to sing that, even though ultimately he just wanted to stay true to the original song he loved so much as a kid). I found it amusing that he sang it that night as well.
A shot of Brandi Carlile (a huge Tracy fan!) and her wife Catherine Shepherd shows them completely absorbed in what's happening on stage. Then comes the second chorus...
Tracy moves on to the sixth verse, followed by the chorus again. The artists in the audience are completely into it, singing along, with big smiles on their faces, including Jelly Roll, Michael Trotter Jr. from The War and Treaty...
And then the final verse they share equally, which symbolizes quite well the duo we were fortunate enough to witness:
Luke: "You got a fast car"
Tracy: "But is it fast enough so you can fly away"
Luke: "You gotta make a decision"
Tracy: "You leave tonight or live and die this way"
And it’s already over, Luke bowing to Tracy, Tracy, with a big smile, sincerely thanking Luke. It's probably one of my favorite images of the evening because I feel it symbolizes very well what happened between them. We felt that they got along well, that there was a connection, and that there was respect, a lot of respect for each other. And that's really what all the musicians have reported in their comments following the performance on their social media.
The crowd went wild, standing ovation (very impressive to watch from behind!), thunderous applause, Oprah Winfrey cheering them and host Trevor Noah paying tribute to Tracy saying "the legendary Tracy Chapman" while Tracy and Luke embrace.
That was it, 5 minutes an 20 seconds, it was over, but not in our minds or our hearts.
A duet performance led by Tracy
The informative Rolling Stone magazine article informs us that "Luke Combs asked that Tracy have full creative control of the performance, despite it being billed by the Grammys as an appearance by Combs in an attempt to keep Chapman’s cameo a surprise. “Luke wanted to give Tracy every opportunity to shine,” Kappy [Combs' manager] says. “He said, ‘This is your song, and this is our opportunity to be a part of it.’”
How is this performance primarily Tracy's? Here are all the details you might have missed:
It's Tracy who plays the guitar, that catchy and memorable riff, it's hers, she plays it. Luke accompanies her on vocals.
She's the one who starts the song, she sings the first line ("You got a fast car") and she's the one who finishes it by singing the last line ("Leave tonight or live and die this way").
It's also her who starts the first words of the first chorus: "So I remember when we were...", as if to lead Luke on the path, to take him by the hand. He goes along with it...
Even though Luke Combs' version performed on stage is very close to Tracy's, there's still a feeling that he's in a hurry when he plays it because between two verses/choruses, he doesn't play the full riff, he moves on quickly, quickly... it goes very fast! At the Grammys, they played Tracy's version. They took their time. The duo lasted more than 5 minutes, which is very long for a prime-time performance.
5. The band that accompanied Tracy and Luke on stage was 80% from Team TC:
1. Denny Fongheiser on drums is indeed the drummer from the original version on Tracy's Debut Album but also on the albums ‘Crossroads’ (1989) and ‘Telling Stories’ (2000), and he has also toured with her on about fifty dates.
2. Joe Gore on guitar has been a loyal companion to Tracy since 2002 as he has contributed to her last 3 albums and has accompanied her on all her tours for 22 years (over 160 concerts!).
3. Larry Klein on bass, like Denny, is also the bassist from the original version, of the album ‘Crossroads’, and he is the producer of her latest album ‘Our Bright Future’ released in 2008!
4. Larry Campbell has already worked with Tracy on some dates.
5. Only Kurt Ozan on pedal steel is a musician from Luke Combs.
6. Throughout the performance, it was clear that she was the boss, wasn't she? Just like when you attend a Tracy concert, if you've had that chance, you know what I mean. And the famous Rolling Stone article explains everything, in great detail, how this performance was meticulously prepared, as a team, with mutual respect for each other, but still, on her own terms. So please read it. Really. It's truly the best article I've read about Tracy in a long time because it details the behind-the-scenes with an amazing attention to detail, almost as if we were there!
(The rest of the newsletter is to be read in the second part as Substack doesn't allow everything to be included in one (!), sorry about that)
(📸 Photos from the Grammy performance are by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Written by AURÉLIE M:
Editor, researcher, and founder of about-tracy-chapman.net. I’ve been curating Tracy Chapman’s legacy since 2001—online, in print, and through this newsletter. Co-manager of the Tracy Chapman Online (2.7M followers).
Surely Trac is not posting ALL of this