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Luke Combs ‘Grateful’ For Tracy Chapman Performance

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

Luke Combs posted on his Insta Stories this week how “grateful” he was for the Tracy Chapman performance he did at the GRAMMY Awards earlier this month (2/3).

Luke shared a photo of an article by Rolling Stone saying how Chapman’s version of “Fast Car” has re-entered the Hot 100 Billboard chart 35 years after its release due in part to the performance.

Over the article, which featured an image of Tracy from when the song first came out, he wrote, “Well deserved. I will be forever grateful for the moment I was able to share with Tracy at the @recordingacademy GRAMMYs.”

In 1988, Chapman’s “Fast Car” first entered the Billboard Hot 100 in October of that year. It peaked in the top ten of that chart. The song also won a GRAMMY Award in 1989 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

RELATED: Luke Combs Honors Toby Keith With Performance Of “Should’ve Been A Cowboy”

Combs and Chapman’s performance of “Fast Car” was the second performance at the GRAMMY Awards earlier this month (2/3), and they got a huge standing ovation. In a video clip leading to the performance, Luke talked about how it was his favorite song as a kid.

After the video, you could see hands playing the familiar opening of “Fast Car,” and then revealed that it was Tracy Chapman performing the song. Luke joined in, and the audience of the world’s most famous singers and songwriters seemed to erupt. The camera shot to Taylor Swift, who was standing in the crowd, swaying and singing every word. Then the camera shot to country stars War And Treaty, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and Zach Bryan singing along. As the song continued, the crowd got emotional, and Oprah Winfrey stood up with her arms held out joyously at that wonderful sound.

As a journalist who has covered many award shows, including the GRAMMYs, for many years, I have to say it was the best country music performance on any GRAMMY Awards show. And as I stood up to write the story that night, I noticed tears streaming down my face.

Five Romantic Country Love Songs

  • "It's Your Love" - Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (1997)

    While this song is more than twenty-five years old, this Tim and Faith classic never gets old. This was recorded about one year after they got married and you can hear the love.

    This amazing love song became the first duet by a married couple to top the country chart since Nielsen began tracking songs in 1990. There was not another single that would top the chart again until almost 26 years later, when Kane and Katelyn Brown’s “Thank God” topped the chart in February 2023.

    In the music video, you can clearly see that Faith is expecting the couple’s first child, Gracie.

  • "Nobody But You"- Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani (2019)

    This is another song that topped the country charts sung by a not-yet-married couple in love. They, of course, married in 2021. Blake described the song as “honest” and related it to his relationship with Gwen. He said when it was released of when he first heard the song, “Oh my god, I gotta cut this song. This song’s incredible.” Shelton added, “The thing that I think that I’m blown away with Gwen is just how hard she works when she gets into the studio. She’s not willing to take anything less than greatness… and she’s willing to put in the work.”

    The romantic music video for “Nobody But You” has been viewed over 93 million times on YouTube.

  • "Thank God" - Kane and Katelyn Brown (2022)

    This song will go down as one of country music’s best love songs ever. Yet another married couple sings to each other how grateful they are to have one another. When the song hit number one on the charts in February of 2023, Kane wrote on his social media, “My baby got her first number 1. Thanks, country radio and fans, for blowing this one up.”

    The video, which won Video of the Year at the CMT Awards in 2023, was filmed in Hawaii.

  • "Die a Happy Man" - Thomas Rhett (2015)

    A true blue love song for his wife Lauren, whom he has known since second grade. The lyrics to this love masterpiece include, “And I know that I can’t ever tell you enough / That all I need in this life is your crazy love / If I never get to see the Northern Lights / Or if I never get to see the Eiffel Tower at night / Oh if all I got is your hand in my hand / Baby, I could die a happy man / A happy man, baby.”

    This song was so big it stayed in the number-one spot on the country charts for seventeen weeks.

    The music video for the song was filmed while the couple was on vacation in Hawaii.

  • "Better Together" Luke Combs (2019)

    Luke fell madly in love around the same time he hit big in country music and recorded his first project for Sony Nashville. Love songs seemed to pour out of him. One of his love ballads for Nicole (now his wife) was “Better Together,” which sang of “a match made up in heaven.” Combs performed the song in October 2020 at the Billboard Music Awards. During the performance with no audience because of COVID restrictions, he sang it accompanied solely by a piano player.

    Luke also sang the song at the 55th Annual ACM Awards.

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group
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