Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman has made history as the first Black woman in history to reach #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart as sole writer. This milestone has come off the back of Luke Combs’ version of her 1988 song “Fast Car”. Rolling Stone initially reported that the Combs’ version of the hit song was climbing up the Billboard charts fast before the Charts Data account officially announced that it reached #1.
A Long Time Coming
A number of Black women have accrued co-writing credits on country music hits over the years. There was Alice Randall who contributed to Trisha Yearwood’s 1994 single “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl).” And In 2020, singer-songwriter Ester Dean nabbed a #1 for her work on Lady A’s “Champagne Night.” And in 2021, Tayla Parx (who has been credited for three Billboard Hot 100 hit singles with artists like Ariana Grande, Normani, Khalid and others) also earned one for co-writing Dan+Shay’s “Glad You Exist.”
Chapman’s latest milestone makes her the first Black woman to have her own solo credit on a country music hit.
A Classic Gains New Life
When Chapman released “Fast Car” in 1988 it was the lead single from her self-titled debut album, released the same year. The song became an instant top-ten hit in the United States. Its popularity and top-ten ascension was propelled after Chapman’s performance at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. Luke Combs’ studio version of “Fast Car” is featured in his latest album, “Gettin’ Old.” As Combs told Rolling Stone, “The guitar part on that song is super iconic, and everyone knows the song as soon as you start playing it, they know it, and they sing along. It’s like ‘Free Bird’ or ‘Jolene.’”
“Fast Car” has also found new life in recent pop culture, according to a Rolling Stone report on the song’s cultural comeback, “In an era wracked by unrest, a pandemic, and a sudden, massive wave of unemployment, a song rooted in the social and economic upheaval of 30 years ago is also speaking to a new generation of musicians and listeners.”