Tracy Chapman Biography: Age, Family, Education And Career

Tracy Chapman, an American vocalist and lyricist, was born on March 30, 1964. She gained widespread recognition for her popular songs “Fast Car” in 1988 and “Give Me One Reason” in 1995.

In 1987, she was offered a record deal with Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow.

REAL FACTS ABOUT TRACY CHAPMAN

FULL NAME: Tracy Chapman

DATE OF BIRTH: March 30, 1964

PLACE OF BIRTH: Cleveland, Ohio

NATIONALITY: American

OCCUPATION: Singer and Songwriter

MARITAL STATUS: Married

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 30, 1964. Her mother raised her and bought her a ukulele when she was three years old. When she was four, her parents got divorced. At the age of eight, she started playing the guitar and writing songs.

She believes that her inspiration to play the guitar may have come from watching the TV show Hee Haw. Growing up in Cleveland, she faced frequent bullying and racially motivated attacks.

Despite being raised as a Baptist, she attended an Episcopal high school and was accepted into the A Better Chance program, which supports students attending college preparatory high schools away from their hometowns.

She graduated from Wooster School in Connecticut and then went on to study Anthropology at Tufts University. While at Tufts, she performed in various locations nearby, such as Harvard Square and MBTA Red Line platforms.

During her time as a student, she recorded demos of her songs on the Tufts University radio station, WMFO, in order to protect her copyright, in exchange for the station being allowed to play her songs.

CAREER

Chapman made her first appearance on a major stage as the opening act for Linda Tillery, a pioneer in women’s music, at the Strand Theatre in Boston on May 3, 1985.

Another student from Tufts University, Brian Koppelman, discovered Chapman’s talent while she was playing and brought her to the attention of his father, Charles Koppelman.

He showed his father a demo tape of Chapman’s song “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution” that he had secretly obtained from her college radio station.

Charles Koppelman, who was in charge of SBK Publishing, signed Chapman in 1986. After she graduated from Tufts in 1987, he helped her secure a contract with Elektra Records.

Under Elektra, she released her self-titled album Tracy Chapman in 1988. The album received high praise from critics, and Chapman started touring and gaining a fanbase.

Her song “Fast Car” started climbing the charts in the United States after she performed it at the televised Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London in June 1988.

During the concert, Chapman initially performed a short set in the afternoon. However, she gained a larger audience when she filled in for Stevie Wonder, who was experiencing technical difficulties.

This unexpected appearance is credited with significantly boosting the sales of both the single and the album.

“Fast Car” reached the No. 6 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the week ending August 27, 1988. Rolling Stone ranked the song at No. 167 on their 2010 list of the greatest 500 songs of all time. The follow-up songs, “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution” and “Baby Can I Hold You”, also charted at No. 75 and No. 48 respectively.

The album was a commercial success, achieving multi-platinum status and winning three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. In 1988, she performed on the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour.

Her second album, Crossroads (1989), was not as successful commercially as her debut, but still reached platinum status in the U.S. In 1992, she released Matters of the Heart. Her fourth album, New Beginning (1995), was a major success, selling over five million copies in the U.S. alone.

The album featured the hit single “Give Me One Reason”, which won the Grammy for Best Rock Song in 1997 and became her most successful single in the U.S., peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going Platinum.

After a four-year break, she released her fifth album, Telling Stories, in 2000, which later achieved gold status. Her sixth album, Let It Rain, was released in 2002.

She was hired by the American Conservatory Theater to create music for their production of Athol Fugard’s play Blood Knot, which focuses on apartheid in South Africa. This production took place in early 2008.

Her eighth studio album, Our Bright Future, was released by Atlantic Records in 2008.

The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album the following year.

She was selected as a member of the U.S. Documentary jury for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

In April 2015, she performed the song “Stand By Me” with Ben E. King on one of the final episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman.

This performance became widely popular and was covered by various news outlets, including Billboard and The Huffington Post.

On November 20, 2015, she released a compilation album titled Greatest Hits, which included 18 tracks, including a live version of “Stand By Me”. This album marked her first global compilation release.

In October 2018, she filed a lawsuit against rapper Nicki Minaj for copyright infringement.

She claimed that Minaj had sampled her song “Baby Can I Hold You” without permission, despite her repeated denials.

The lawsuit alleged that Minaj had infringed on Chapman’s copyright by creating the song “Sorry” and distributing it. Chapman requested an injunction to prevent Minaj from releasing the song.

According to the lawsuit, Chapman has a policy of rejecting all requests to use her songs. In September 2020, Judge Virginia A.

Phillips ruled in favor of Minaj, stating that Minaj’s use of Chapman’s song was fair use and not copyright infringement.

However, the judge decided that the second part of the complaint should be taken to trial. In January 2021, the dispute was resolved when Minaj paid Chapman $450,000.

Before the 2020 presidential election, Chapman performed “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution” on Late Night with Seth Meyers, urging people to vote.

In July 2023, when Luke Combs’ version of her song “Fast Car” reached number one on the Country Airplay chart, Chapman became the first Black woman to achieve a solo-written country number one.

At the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards in November 2023, Chapman made history as the first Black woman to win a CMA Award, taking home the Song of the Year for “Fast Car”.

This also made her the first Black songwriter to win that award. During the 2024 Grammy Awards, she joined Combs on stage to perform “Fast Car” together.

PERSONAL LIFE

Although Chapman has never openly talked about her sexual preference, Alice Walker, a writer, has claimed that she and Chapman were romantically involved in the mid-1990s.

Chapman firmly keeps her personal and professional lives separate, stating that she has a public life dedicated to her work and a personal life.

She believes that maintaining this separation is connected to the nature of her work.