Tracy Chapman

American singer-songwriter

AI overview

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter known for writing and performing her own music. Her work matters because she became a prominent and influential figure in popular music, bringing her distinctive voice and songwriting to audiences.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works: 16

Top works

Prentice Hall Literature - Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes - The British Tradition
Marriage and Good Wife Have More in Common Than You Think
Punto con cintas
Tracy Chapman - Telling Stories
Easy Toys to Knit

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Tracy Chapman is an American musician, singer and songwriter.

Known for

Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery — Self2025
60 Songs: BBC Two at 60 — Self (archive footage)2024
Popular Voices at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2017
Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self - Musical Guest2014
O Melhor do Flash Back - 92 Clipes Para Recordar — Self (archive footage)2009
Pavarotti & Friends 7 - For Cambodia and Tibet — Self2000
One Love: The Bob Marley All-Star Tribute — Self - Perfomer1999
Beastie Boys: Tibetan Freedom Concert 19991999
The Paris Concert for Amnesty International — Self1998
Vivement dimanche — Self1998

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Female
Origin: United States
Active from: 1964

acousticalternative folkamericanandrogynous vocalsblues rockcontemporary folk

Discography

Baby Can I Hold You1988
Fast Car1988
Fast Car / Talkin’ Bout a Revolution1988
Montreux Jazz Festival1988
Talkin’ Bout a Revolution1988
Tracy Chapman1988
All That You Have Is Your Soul1989
Crossroads1989
Crossroads1989
This Time1989

Official site Discogs Stream

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 2,146,685
Total plays: 38,244,921

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

Frailty in Older Adults: Evidence for a Phenotype
· 2001 · cited 20,392x
2018 ESC/ESH Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension
· 2018 · cited 8,155x
<i>EGFR</i> Mutations in Lung Cancer: Correlation with Clinical Response to Gefitinib Therapy
· 2004 · cited 7,992x
Amazon's Mechanical Turk
· 2011 · cited 7,742x
2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias: <i>lipid modification to reduce cardiovascular risk</i>
· 2019 · cited 7,636x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“As a child…I always had a sense of social conditions and political situations. I think it had to do with the fact that my mother was always discussing things with my sister and me — also because I read a lot. A lot of people in similar situations just have a sense that they’re poor or disenfranchised, but they don’t really think about what’s created the situation or what factors don’t allow them to control their lives.”
“It seems to me that that image was created for female folk singers because they actually had a lot more control than other women in the music scene…They wrote their own songs, they played them, they performed by themselves — there you have a picture of a very independent person, and trying to make them seem emotional and fragile and all puts a softer edge on it. As if there was something wrong with being independent.”
“I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in…That's what everyone should do with their lives…stand up for what they believe in, or try to do some good in the world. I don't think artists have a greater responsibility than anyone else.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Wikidata facts

Official website: www.tracychapman.com
Image: Tracy Chapman 3.jpg

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Tracy Chapman
date of birth: 1964-03-30
start of work period: 1986-00-00
social media followers: 1020000

Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~12 min read

Article

Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. She was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year 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.

In 1989, she released her second album, Crossroads, which earned her an additional Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Her third album, Matters of the Heart, followed in 1992. Her fourth album, New Beginning, was released in 1995 and became another worldwide success. It was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA and yielded the hit single "Give Me One Reason", which earned her the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.