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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Tracy Chapman| image = Tracy Chapman 3.jpg| caption = Tracy Chapman in Bruges in 2009| image_size = 250px| background = solo_singer| birth_name =| alias =| birth_date = Birth date and age|1964|3|30| death_date =| origin = Cleveland , Ohio , United States|U.S. | instrument = singing|Vocals , guitar , harp , bouzouki , banjo , clarinet , Keyboard instrument|keyboards , Electronic organ|organ , percussion , harmonica | genre = Folk music|Folk , blues-rock , pop (music)|pop , Soul music|soul | occupation = Singer-songwriter , musician | years_active = 1986–present| label = Elektra Records | associated_acts =| website = URL|tracychapman.com| notable_instruments = Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an People of the United States|American singer-songwriter , best known for her singles " Fast Car ", " Talkin' 'bout a Revolution ", " Baby Can I Hold You ", " Crossroads (Tracy Chapman album)|Crossroads ", " Give Me One Reason " and " Telling Stories ". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award -winning artist. http://grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx? title=& winner=tracy%20chapman& year=0& genreID=0& hp=1 GRAMMY Award Winners Grammy.com
Biography
Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland , Ohio . She was raised by her mother, who recognized Tracy's love of music and, despite not having much money, bought her a ukulele when she was just three.Williamson, Nigel http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/biography-by-nigel-williamson-2001/ Tracy Chapman Biography All About Tracy Chapman, July 2001 Chapman began playing guitar and writing songs at the age of eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television show Hee Haw .Martin, Michael http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=112056043& ft=1& f=1003 "Without Further Ado, Songster Tracy Chapman Returns" National Public Radio, August 20, 2009
Chapman was raised Baptist and went to an Episcopal high school. She was accepted into the program " A Better Chance ", which helps minority students attend private schools. She graduated from Wooster School in Connecticut , then attended Tufts University . http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/biography.htm Biography All About Tracy Chapman She graduated with a B.A. degree in anthropology and African studies .Erlewine, Stephen Thomas http://www.pandora.com/music/artist/tracy+chapman Tracy Chapman All Music Guide
In the mid-1990s, Chapman dated author Alice Walker .Wajid, Sara http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/dec/15/gender.world "No retreat", The Guardian , December 15, 2006 Chapman maintains a strong separation between her personal and professional lives. “I have a public life that’s my work life and I have my personal life,” she said. “In some ways, the decision to keep the two things separate relates to the work I do." http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/2002-tracy-chapman-still-introspective/ 2002 – Tracy Chapman still introspective? All About Tracy Chapman, October 2002
Chapman often performs at and attends charity events such as Make Poverty History , amfAR and AIDS/LifeCycle, to support social causes. She lives in San Francisco .
Career
During college, Chapman began busking in Harvard Square and playing guitar in Club Passim and within other coffeehouse s in Cambridge, Massachusetts .Citation needed|date=January 2011 Another Tufts student, Brian Koppelman , heard Chapman playing and brought her to the attention of his father, Charles Koppelman . Koppelman, who ran SBK Records|SBK Publishing , signed Chapman in 1986. After Chapman graduated from Tufts in 1987, he helped her to sign a contract with Elektra Records .
At Elektra, she released Tracy Chapman (album)|Tracy Chapman (1988). The album was critically acclaimed, and she began touring and building a fanbase. Chapman's "Fast Car" began its rise on the US charts soon after she performed it at the televised Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in June 1988; it became a number 6 pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending August 27, 1988. Rolling Stone ranked the song number 165 on their list of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ".cite web|url= http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/2|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|accessdate=January 11, 2012|publisher= Rolling Stone |date=2004-12-09 It is the highest ranking song both written and performed by a female performer. "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", the follow-up, charted at number 75 and was followed by "Baby Can I Hold You", which peaked at number 48. The album sold well, going RIAA certification|multi-platinum and winning three Grammy Award s, 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& #33; 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." http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/chapman_tracy/bio.jhtml "Tracy Chapman" VH1.com
Her follow-up album Crossroads (Tracy Chapman album)|Crossroads (1989) was less commercially successful, but still achieved platinum status. By 1992's Matters of the Heart (Tracy Chapman album)|Matters of the Heart , Chapman was playing to a small and devoted audience. Her fourth album New Beginning (Tracy Chapman album)|New Beginning (1995) proved successful, selling over three million copies in the U.S. The album included the hit single " Give Me One Reason ", which won the Grammy Awards of 1997|1997 Grammy for Best Rock Song and became Chapman's most successful single to date, peaking at Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Following a four-year hiatus, her fourth album, Telling Stories , was released in 2000. Its hit single, "Telling Stories", received heavy airplay on European radio stations and on Adult Alternative and Hot AC stations in the United States. Chapman toured Europe and the US in 2003 in support of her sixth album, Let It Rain (Tracy Chapman album)|Let It Rain (2002).
To support her seventh studio album, Where You Live (2005), Chapman toured major US cities in October and 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 UK, Russia and more. On June 5, 2006, she performed at the 5th Gala of Jazz in Lincoln Center, New York, and in a session at the 2007 TED (conference)|TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference in Monterey, California .
Chapman was commissioned by the American Conservatory Theater to compose music for its production of Athol Fugard 's Blood Knot , a play on apartheid in South Africa , staged in early 2008.cite web | title = A.C.T. Tackles Big Issues in Fugard's Blood Knot | publisher = American Conservatory Theater | url = http://www.act-sf.org/site/News2? page=NewsArticle& id=5339& news_iv_ctrl=-1 |date= January 18, 2008
Atlantic Records released Chapman's eighth studio album, Our Bright Future (2008).cite web | title = Tracy Chapman | publisher = Atlantic Records | url = http://www.atlanticrecords.com/tracychapman | accessdate = 16 March 2009 Chapman made a 26-date solo tour of Europe. She returned to tour Europe and selected North American cities during the summer of 2009. She was backed by Joe Gore on guitars, Patrick Warren on keyboards, and Dawn Richardson on percussion. http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/2009-tracy-chapman-tour-dates-2009/ Tracy Chapman European / US Tour Dates 2009 All About Tracy Chapman, December 22, 2008
Social activism
Chapman is widely regarded as a politically and socially active musician. In a 2009 interview with American radio network NPR , Chapman is quoted as saying: "I'm approached by lots of organizations and lots of people who want me to support their various charitable efforts in some way. And I look at those requests and I basically try to do what I can. And I have certain interests of my own, generally an interest in human rights." This interest in human rights can be seen lyrically in her music. Songs such as 1988's " Talkin' 'bout a Revolution|Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution " highlight the importance of speaking up against injustice. An example is this lyric from "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution":
quote|Don't you know, talking 'bout a revolution sounds like a whisper / when they're standing in the welfare lines. Chapman's song " Fast Car " also brings awareness to the struggles of poverty, with lyrics such as:
quote|I know things will get better / you'll find work and I'll get promoted / we'll move out of the shelter / buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs Chapman's activism extends further than her lyrics. She has performed at numerous socially aware events, and continues to do so. In 1988, Tracy Chapman performed in London as part of a worldwide concert tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with Amnesty International.cite web|title=Who We Are/History|url= http://www.amnesty.org/en/who-we-are/history|work=Amnesty|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=20 October 2011 The same year Chapman also performed in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute, an event which raised money for South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement and seven children's charities.cite news|title=Live Aid's Legacy of Charity Concerts|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4627249.stm|work=BBC|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=10 October 2011|date=30 June 2005 More recently, in 2004 Chapman performed (and rode) in the AIDSLifeCycle event.cite web|title=AIDS LifeCycle 2004|url= http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=QEHMK-5l2Z8|work=Online Posting|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=18 October 2011
Chapman has also been involved with Cleveland’s elementary schools. A music video produced by Chapman that highlights significant achievements in African-American history has become an important teaching tool in Cleveland Public Schools. Chapman also agreed to sponsor a "Crossroads in Black History" essay contest for high school students in Cleveland and other cities.cite journal|title=School Uses Video To Teach Black History|journal=Curriculum Review|year=1990|volume=29|issue=8|pages=11|accessdate=10 October 2011
In 2004, Chapman was given an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts by her alma mater, Tufts University, recognizing her commitment to Social Activism.cite web|title=Commencement Speaker Announced|url= http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/729/2004/02/13/CommencementSpeakerAnnounced|work=E-News|publisher=Tufts University|accessdate=20 October 2011
quote|I'm fortunate that I've been able to do my work and be involved in certain organizations, certain endeavors, and offered some assistance in some way. Whether that is about raising money or helping to raise awareness, just being another body to show some force and conviction for a particular idea. Finding out where the need is - and if someone thinks you're going to be helpful, then helping.|Tracy Chapmancite news|last=Younge|first=Gary|title=A Militant Mellow|url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2002/sep/28/artsfeatures.popandrock|publisher= The Guardian |date=28 September 2002|accessdate=9 October 2011
1992: Matters of the Heart (Tracy Chapman album)|Matters of the Heart
1995: New Beginning (Tracy Chapman album)|New Beginning
2000: Telling Stories
2002: Let It Rain (Tracy Chapman album)|Let It Rain
2005: Where You Live
2008: Our Bright Future
Contributions
Duet songs:
"The Thrill Is Gone" with BB King from his album Deuces Wild (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 (Buddy Guy album)|Bring 'Em In
"Trench Town Rock" with Stephen and Ziggy Marley at the One Love Bob Marley All Star Tribute
"The Maker" with Dave Matthews on October 21, 2001 at the Bridge School Benefit
Covered songs:
" The House of the Rising Sun " – Rubáiyát (LP)
" The Times They Are a-Changin' (song)|The Times They Are A Changin " – The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration|Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration (LP)
"O Holy Night" – A Very Special Christmas 3 (LP) and 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 (song)|Stand By Me " – by Ben E. King on the XM Hear Music Radio Sessions Volume 1 (LP)
s-starts-achsuccession box| title = Grammy Award for Best New Artist | years = 1989 | before= Jody Watley | after = Milli Vanilli |succession box| title = Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | years = 1989 for " Fast Car " | before= Whitney Houston for " I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) " | after = Bonnie Raitt for " Nick of Time (album)|Nick of Time " |succession box| title = Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album | years = 1989 ' for Tracy Chapman (album)|Tracy Chapman | before= Steve Goodman for Unfinished Business | after = Indigo Girls for Indigo Girls (album)|Indigo Girls |succession box| title = Grammy Award for Best Rock Song | years = 1997 for " Give Me One Reason " | before= Glen Ballard and Alanis Morissette for " You Oughta Know " | after = Wallflowers for " One Headlight " |end
Awards and nominations
; Grammy Award History
grammy|1989
* Best New Artist ( Won )
* Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for " Fast Car " ( Won )
* Best Contemporary Folk Recording for Tracy Chapman ( Won )
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year for Tracy Chapman (Nominated)
* Record of the Year for "Fast Car" (Nominated)
* Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year for "Fast Car" (Nominated)
grammy|1990
*Best Contemporary Folk Recording for Crossroads (Nominated)
grammy|1997
* Best Rock Song for " Give Me One Reason " ( Won )
* Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Give Me One Reason" (Nominated)
* Record of the Year for "Give Me One Reason" (Nominated)
* Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year for "Give Me One Reason" (Nominated)
* Best Pop Album for New Beginning
grammy|2010
* Best Contemporary Folk Album for Our Bright Future (Nominated)
;Other Awards
Year
Ceremony
Award
Nominated Work
Result
1988
Billboard Music Awards
Best Female Video
"Tracy Chapman"
won
1989
Soul Train Music Awards
Best R& B/ Urban Contemporary Album of the Year, Female
http://www.tracychapman.com/ Tracy Chapman, Official website
http://www.atlanticrecords.com/tracychapman/ "Tracy Chapman", Atlantic Records
http://www.abetterchance.org/abetterchance.aspx? pgID=1279 "A Better Chance", Official Website, education program for minority students
Grammy Award for Best New ArtistNavbox musical artist| name = Tracy Chapman | title = Tracy Chapman | bodyclass = | background = singer songwriter
| above =
Tracy Chapman
| group1 = Studio albums | list1 =
Tracy Chapman (album)|Tracy Chapman (1988) Crossroads (album)|Crossroads (1989) Matters of the Heart (album)|Matters of the Heart (1992) New Beginning (album)|New Beginning (1995) Telling Stories (2000) Let It Rain (album)|Let It Rain (2002) Where You Live |Where You Live (2005) Our Bright Future |Our Bright Future (2008)
Authority control|PND=134635485|LCCN=n/91/115660|VIAF=85433561 Persondata | NAME =Chapman, Tracy | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =March 30, 1964 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Tracy Category:Living people Category:1964 births Category:African American female guitarists Category:African American female singer-songwriters Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk rock musicians Category:American folk singers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Brit Award winners Category:Fast Folk artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio Category:Musicians from Cleveland, Ohio Category:Tufts University alumni Category:Pescetarians
