In 1988 Tracy Chapman she released her self-titled debut album, which became a commercial success, boosted by her appearance at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert, and was certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album received six Grammy Award nominations, including one for Album of the Year, three of which she won: Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single “Fast Car“, and Best Contemporary Folk Album. In 2025, the album was preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.
I had a hard time picking which of her songs to post. “Fast Car” has been getting a lot of airplay since it also made the Country charts. Her second album in 1989 had another of my faves – “Give Me One Reason” – so I’ll probably include those on a Two For Tuesday soon. The version below is from that Mandela concert in 1988.
Reminder… You can click in the lower right of a YouTube video to make it full screen. Also, you can use the Posts menu item to filter news posts to a specific category – e.g. Music Videos – to just show those. Give it a shot!
