Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman to perform 'Fast Car' duet at 66th Grammy Awards
Variety on Wednesday reported that Tracy Chapman, who has not regularly performed publicly in over a decade, will perform a duet of "Fast Car" with Luke Combs at Sunday's 66th Grammy Awards.
At the 2023 Country Music Association Awards ceremony, Combs expressed to The Tennessean that Chapman's 1988-released "Fast Car" — for which he was awarded CMA's Single of the Year, thus making Chapman the first Black woman ever to win a CMA Award — was a "timeless" song.
When Billboard asked in July whether Combs would ever meet or share a stage with Chapman to play the song, the chart-topper's manager, Chris Kappy, stated, "We would be more than excited if the opportunity arose for Tracy and Luke to perform the song together."
On Sunday night, Kappy will be more than excited.
Combs is only nominated for Grammy's Country Solo Performance trophy for "Fast Car." He had already been announced as a performer on the show.
Chapman has appeared less than a handful of times as a live performer since wrapping up her most recent touring run in 2009.
The least anticipated to most-wanted 2023 success of 'Fast Car'
In July, Chapman told Billboard that she "never expected to find (herself) on the country charts," but that she was "honored to be there" and "happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced 'Fast Car.'"
"Oh, man, 'Fast Car' has surprised me more than you can imagine," Combs respond. "Tracy Chapman wrote this perfect song that I first heard with my dad and has stayed with me since.
"I have played it in my live show now for six-plus years, and everyone — I mean everyone — across all these stadiums relates to this song and sings along. That's the gift of a supernatural songwriter. The success of my cover is unreal and I think it's so cool that Tracy is getting recognized and has reached new milestones. I love that she is out there feeling all the love and that she gave me a shout-out! Thank you, Tracy!"
Combs' ability to blend country's uniquely Southern, rural-feeling pop edge with the genre's well-worn traditions has allowed him to amass 13 consecutive singles at the top of Billboard's Country Airplay charts in five years.
However, "Fast Car" was his first crossover Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single.
More music: Justin Timberlake to perform free surprise concert in Memphis: 'Going home'
The moment could be a signifier of a greater reckoning.
Spotify named Morgan Wallen's soulful country ballad "Last Night," another 2023 crossover hit, as the Song of the Summer for 2023.
It highlighted a recent trend of roughly one in five songs on Billboard's Hot 100 chart featuring a country artist. Alongside "Last Night," Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town," Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond," Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves' "I Remember Everything" and "Fast Car" all achieved unprecedented crossover success.
Country has been able to satisfy both musical traditionalists and those looking for four decades of pop influences in a single genre.
Chapman and Combs could have a 'sea change' moment
A live performance of "Fast Car" by Chapman and Combs could cement an eventual and broadening sea change of country's perception in a manner similar but different to how Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performed "Tennessee Whiskey" at the 2015 CMA Awards.
That year, executive producer Robert Deaton paired Stapleton — then a songwriter with a significant roots performance pedigree working with and singing background for "bro-country" era superstar Luke Bryan — with now mature and solo *NSYNC "boy-band" performer Timberlake.
Their performance of country classic "Tennessee Whiskey," however, intentionally lacked the massive backdrops, pyrotechnics and other expansive ideas familiar to male acts of the era.
Mirroring the "refreshingly true artistry" sans rock star artifice of Stapleton's breakout record "Traveller" "slayed people with vocals more than anything else," Deaton told The Tennessean.
The performance pushed "a reset to organic music" in country's mainstream.
In a July 2023 opinion column, former Tennessean staffer LeBron Hill noted that "it should not be lost on us that Combs, a white male country singer, was able to find success using a song by a Black, queer woman about trying to escape the endless cycle of poverty."
He continued: "But as the industry pushes more diversity on stages and in record labels, this success shows, 'Hey, if you're the right person to present this story, that's all that matters.' And in a lot of cases it's a white presenter. That is not a future that will include a lot of diverse voices, frankly. I want to see Combs and Chapman together on stage performing 'Fast Car.' Then, the song won't just be an homage to his father but a show of admiration for the Black woman who gave them that moment. Hopefully, they'll make a deal."
A deal has been struck.
The 66th Grammy Awards will air Sunday at 7 p.m. CST on CBS and can be streamed live on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Grammy Awards: Luke Combs, Tracy Chapman to perform 'Fast Car' duet
