Tracy Chapman wasn’t sitting shotgun at this year’s Grammy Awards.
The singer-songwriter left audiences in awe as she joined country artist Luke Combs for a duet of her 1988 hit Fast Car during Sunday’s ceremony.
While Combs’ cover topped the country music charts this year, Chapman’s presence truly brought things back home.
And she brought the A-list crowd to their feet, as Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves and Kelly Clarkson stood up and sang along, some wiping tears from their eyes.
The Talkin’ Bout a Revolution singer’s Grammys appearance was big for fans of the folk-rock talent, who has only performed on camera three times since 2009.
Though Chapman has largely stayed out of the spotlight since Combs’ cover shot up the charts last year, she said she’s grateful for the new audience Fast Car has found.
“I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honoured to be there,” she told Billboard last summer.
Combs’ cover made Chapman the first Black woman to top Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as a song’s solo writer. The cover was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance, but lost to Chris Stapleton’s White Horse.
Chapman won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “Fast Car” in 1989.