A special moment.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that when Luke Combs was joined by Tracy Chapman at the Grammy Awards for a performance of Chapman’s 1989 hit “Fast Car,” it was a moment that will be talked about for decades to come.
The notoriously-private Chapman had stayed out of the public eye as Luke’s cover of her song shot to the top of the charts and began racking up awards.
Tracy did release a statement praising Luke for his cover when “Fast Car” went to #1 on the country charts:
“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”
But through all of newfound attention on the song, Chapman still chose to stay out of the spotlight – until earlier this year.
Tracy joined Luke for a special performance of the song during the Grammy Awards back in February, and it was easily the highlight of the show – and will undoubtedly be among the highlights of all of the 2024 awards shows.
But not only that, Luke says it was one of the highlights of his career.
During an appearance on The Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked Luke about the moment and what it meant to him:
“That moment with Tracy is up there in my top 5 career moments without a doubt, I mean if it’s not 1 or 2.
It was just like, one of the most pure musical moments that I’ve ever had in my career, and probably will ever have in my career, for sure.”
From listening to 'Fast Car' as a kid to playing it on stage with Tracy Chapman? Surreal. 💿 pic.twitter.com/19MXoa9asL
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) May 31, 2024
There’s no doubt that it was a special moment, with Luke admitting after the performance that he “fangirled” when meeting Tracy for the first time:
I fangirled for sure, asking her about how’d you make this record and why’d you decide to do this, which is awesome to get, to have know, you hardly ever get to have those conversations with people that you admire. And so that was really cool, man.
And I feel like we just connected on that call. And she agreed to do it. A few weeks later, she agreed to do it. Flew out to Los Angeles on a Tuesday. Obviously, the show was on Sunday. We rehearsed for a couple of days. Just that, just to get it right, get it perfect.”
It’s not often that a musical event like that comes together and turns out as perfect as it did. But when it does, it’s one that’s going to be remembered for a long, long time – especially for Luke.
