Tracy Chapman

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.

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.

Career

During college, Chapman began street-performing and playing her guitar in coffeehouses in Cambridge. After waiting to graduate college, she signed to SBK, releasing Tracy Chapman (1988). The album was critically acclaimed, and she began touring and building a fanbase. Soon after performing at the televised Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in June 1988, Chapman's "Fast Car" began its rise on the US charts. Album and singles sales were strong, and the album went multi-platinum and won four Grammy Awards. 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" ^*.

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 1996 Grammy for Best Rock Song. 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. 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.