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Tracy Chapman

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Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car," "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution," "Baby Can I Hold You," and "Give Me One Reason." She is a multi-platinum and multi-Grammy Award-winning artist.

Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Tracy Chapman began playing guitar and writing songs as a child. She was accepted into A Better Chance, the national resource for identifying, recruiting and developing leaders among academically gifted students of color, which enabled her to attend Wooster School in Connecticut, and was eventually accepted to Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

In May 2004, her alma mater, Tufts University honored her with an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, for her contributions as a socially-conscious and artistically-accomplished musician.

In an interview in The Guardian, Alice Walker spoke about her relationship with Chapman in the mid-1990s, saying, "Yeah I loved it too. Absolutely." [1] Her music is characterized by its acoustic melodies and masculine singing voice.

Career

During college, Chapman began street-performing and playing her guitar in coffeehouses in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After waiting to graduate college, she signed to SBK Records, releasing Tracy Chapman (1988). The album was critically acclaimed, and she began touring and building a fanbase. Soon after she performed it at the televised Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in June 1988, Chapman's "Fast Car" began its rise on the US charts, eventually becoming a Top 10 pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100. "Talkin' About A Revolution," the follow-up, charted at #75, and was followed by "Baby Can I Hold You," which peaked at #48 (and was later successfully covered by the Irish boy-band Boyzone). The album sold well, going multi-platinum and winning four Grammy Awards, including an honour for Chapman as Best New Artist. Later in 1988, Chapman was a featured performer on the worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour. According to the VH1 website, "her album helped usher in the era of political correctness -- along with 10,000 Maniacs and R.E.M., Chapman's liberal politics proved enormously influential on American college campuses in the late '80s" [2].

Her follow-up album Crossroads (1989) was less commercially successful. By 1992's Matters of the Heart, Chapman was playing to a small and devoted audience. However, to the surprise of most industry-watchers, Chapman's fourth 1995 album New Beginning proved successful, selling over 3 million copies just in the U.S. This album included the hit single "Give Me One Reason" which won the 1997 Grammy for Best Rock Song and became Chapman's most successful single to date. The following album was 2000's Telling Stories, which featured more of a rock sound than folk. Its hit single "Telling Stories" received heavy airplay on European radio stations, and on Adult Alternative and Hot AC stations in the United States. Her sixth album was Let It Rain (2002), in support of which she toured in Europe and the US in 2003.

Where You Live, Chapman's seventh studio album, was released in September 2005. A brief supporting tour took place in major cities across the US in October and continued throughout Europe over the remainder of the year.

The "Where You Live" tour has now been extended into 2006, the 28 date European tour has summer concerts announced in Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Finland, Norway, U.K, Russia and more. In addition, on the 5th June, Tracy performed at the 5th Gala of Jazz in Lincoln Center, New York.

Band

2006 tour band

Previous Band Members

Discography

  • 1988 - Tracy Chapman
    (US #1) RIAA: (US: 6x Platinum) (UK #1)
    • "Fast Car" (US #6, UK #5)
    • "Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution" (US #75, UK #85)
    • "Baby, Can I Hold You?" (US #48, UK #94)


  • 1989 - Crossroads
    (US #9) RIAA: (US: 1x Platinum) (UK #1)
    • "Crossroads" (US #90, UK #61)
    • "Subcity"
    • "All That You Have Is Your Soul"


  • 1992 - Matters of the Heart
    (US #53) RIAA: (US: Gold) (UK #19)
    • "Bang Bang Bang"
    • "Dreaming On A World"


  • 1995 - New Beginning
    (US #4) RIAA: (US: 5x Platinum)
    • "Give Me One Reason" (US #3)
    • "New Beginning"
    • "Smoke and Ashes"
    • "The Promise"




  • 2002 - Let It Rain
    (US #25) (UK #36)
    • "You're The One"
    • "Another Sun"


Other appearances

Duet songs:

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