1. Tracy Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987.
18 Facts About Tracy Chapman
1. 2.
In 2023, Chapman became the first black person to score a country number one with a solo composition, and to win the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year, when Luke Combs covered her song "Fast Car".
3.
Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland and was raised by her mother, who bought her a ukulele at age three.
4.
Tracy Chapman's parents divorced when she was four years old.
5.
Tracy Chapman began playing guitar and writing songs at age eight.
6.
Tracy Chapman graduated from Wooster School in Connecticut then attended Tufts University, majoring in anthropology.
7.
Tracy 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.
8.
Tracy 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.
9.
Tracy Chapman released her sixth album, Let It Rain, in 2002.
10.
Tracy Chapman 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.
11.
Tracy Chapman was appointed a member of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival US Documentary jury.
12.
Tracy Chapman performed Ben E King's "Stand By Me" on one of the final episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman in April 2015.
13.
Tracy Chapman stated that she had "repeatedly denied" permission for "Baby Can I Hold You" to be sampled.
14.
When Luke Combs' version of her song "Fast Car" hit number one on the Country Airplay chart in July 2023, Tracy Chapman became the first Black woman to score a country number one with a solo composition.
15.
Tracy Chapman has been involved with Cleveland's elementary schools, producing an educational music video highlighting achievements in African-American history.
16.
Tracy Chapman sponsored "Crossroads in Black History", an essay contest for high school students in Cleveland and other cities.
17.
Tracy Chapman received an honorary doctorate from Saint Xavier University in Chicago in 1997.
18.
Tracy Chapman maintains a strong separation between her personal and professional life.