Tracy Chapman

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Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman at TED conference 2007
Background information
Birth name	Tracy Chapman
Born	March 30, 1964 (1964-03-30) (age 45)
Origin	Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Genre(s)	Folk, blues, alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, harp, bouzouki, harmonica
Voice type(s)	Alto[1]
Years active	1988–present
Label(s)	Elektra Records
Website	Official Site

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", "Give Me One Reason", "The Promise" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.^[2]

[edit] Biography

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Tracy Chapman began playing guitar and writing songs at the age of eleven. She was quickly accepted into the program A Better Chance, which enabled her to attend Wooster School in Connecticut; she was eventually accepted to Tufts University.^[3]

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

Chapman often performs at and attends charity events such as Make Poverty History, amfAR and AIDS/LifeCycle.

[edit] Career

During college, Chapman began street-performing and playing guitar in coffeehouses in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After graduating from Tufts, she signed to Elektra 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 #6 pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100. "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution," the follow-up, charted at #75 and was followed by "Baby Can I Hold You," which peaked at #48. The album sold well, going multi-platinum and winning three Grammy Awards, including an honor 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".^[4]

Her follow-up album Crossroads (1989) was less commercially successful, but still achieved platinum status. By 1992's Matters of the Heart, Chapman was playing to a small and devoted audience. However, her fourth album, 1995's New Beginning proved successful, selling over 3 million copies in the U.S. alone. The 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, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next 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 in major US cities followed in October and continued throughout Europe over the remainder of the year. The "Where You Live" tour was extended into 2006; the 28-date European tour featured summer concerts in Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the U.K, Russia and more. On 5 June 2006, she performed at the 5th Gala of Jazz in Lincoln Center, NY, and in a session at the 2007 TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference in Monterey, California.

Chapman composed original music for the American Conservatory Theater production of Athol Fugard's Blood Knot, an acclaimed play on apartheid in South Africa staged in early 2008.^[5]

[edit] Our Bright Future

On November 11, 2008, Atlantic Records released Chapman's eighth studio album, Our Bright Future.^[6] Following the album's release, Chapman completed a 26-date solo tour of Europe. A full-band European encore tour was announced for 2009.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] Contributions

Duet songs:

• "The Thrill Is Gone" with BB King from his album Deuces Wild
• "Give Me One Reason" with Eric Clapton from the album A Very Special Christmas Live
• "Baby Can I Hold You" with Pavarotti from the DVD/Album Pavarotti and Friends for Cambodia and Tibet
• "Ain't No Sunshine" with Buddy Guy from his album Bring 'em In
• "Trench Town Rock" with Stephen and Ziggy Marley at the One Love Bob Marley All Star Tribute.

Covered songs:

• "House Of The Rising Sun" — Rubáiyát (LP)
• "The Times They Are A Changin" — Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration. (LP)
• "O' Holy Night" — A Very Special Christmas 3 (LP) & A Very Special Christmas Live. (LP)
• "Three Little Birds" — Live at the One Love Bob Marley All Star Tribute.
• "Get Up Stand Up" — by Bob Marley featured on the Let It Rain tour edition CD2 (LP).
• "Stand By Me" — by Ben E. King on the XM Hear Music Radio Sessions Volume 1 (LP).

Cover versions:

• "Baby Can I Hold You?" — reached number 2 on the UK chart in 1997 performed by Boyzone
• "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" — Reel Big Fish, "Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album", Disc 1, 2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tracy Chapman

• Official website
• About Tracy Chapman, website since 2001
• Tracy Chapman Online Forum
• Tracy Chapman Artist pages on Atlantic Records site.
• Fan Channel on YouTube