If this is true, swing and a MAJOR miss.
Luke Combs took home two CMA Awards last night for his cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit “Fast Car.” The song not only won Luke the award for Single of the Year, but it also won Song of the Year, which is presented to the songwriter – meaning that Tracy Chapman became the first black woman to EVER win a CMA Award.
Tracy wasn’t there in person to accept the award, but she did provide a statement expressing her gratitude:
“I’m sorry I couldn’t join you all tonight. It’s truly an honor for my song to be newly-recognized after 35 years of its debut.
Thank you to the CMAs, and a special thanks to Luke and to all of the fans of ‘Fast Car.’”
Luke ended up performing his newest single, “Where The Wild Things Are.” But with so much attention on his cover of Chapman’s hit, he was asked backstage after the show whether the CMA Awards attempted to persuade Chapman to come perform the song with him during the ceremonies.
And it sounds like the answer is no.
“Not that I’m aware of. I don’t know if that happened or not. I think that would have been super cool.
If it happened, no one told me about it.”
Now, could it have happened and Luke just not been aware of it? Sure. But it seems like before inviting somebody to sing a duet with Luke, they would have asked him about it too.
And a moment like that would have been one of the biggest and most-talked-about performances on the show…maybe in years. Not to mention the history behind Tracy becoming the first black woman to be honored with an award.
Of course Tracy may have said no anyway: She’s notoriously private, and has only released a short statement on Luke’s cover of the song since it’s blown up.
But you’ve gotta hope that they at least TRIED to make it happen.
Luke said that he still hasn’t had the chance to talk to Tracy about her song, but when asked what he would say to the legendary artist, he said he would like to thank her for the song:
“I’d just say, ‘Congrats,’ man. I’d say, ‘Thank you for writing one of my favorite songs ever.
I didn’t record this song for recognition. I didn’t record it to try to have a career moment. I recorded it because I love music and I love what that song has meant for me throughout my entire life.
It’s a song that reminds me of my dad, and a song that I’ll play for my son, and a song that ultimately will go down in my history, too. It will be synonymous with me now as well, which is insane to think about, because it’s meant so much to me. So I would just tell her ‘Thank you,’ and ‘Congratulations.'”
