TAKE TWO: TRACY CHAPMAN

Thirty years ago, Tracy Chapman seemed to come out of nowhere and exploded in to the pop music scene with just her voice, guitar and the moving single, "Fast Car". She found immediate success and may have enjoyed her moment in the spotlight but that was not what motivated her. Throughout her remarkable career, the singer/songwriter was never flashy or chased trends and preferred to use her music to speak on social issues and political activism.

Chapman began her musical career busking and playing her guitar in coffeehouses in the Cambridge area while attending Tuffs University. She met Charles Koppelman, who ran a music publishing business, through his son, Brian who was a fellow student at Tuffs, and helped get Chapman signed to Electra Records in 1987.

She released her self-titled debut album the following year with the single, "Fast Car" becoming an international hit and reaching the top-ten on the U.S. pop chart. With the help of the additional singles, "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution" and "Baby Can I Hold You", the album went on to sell twenty million copies worldwide and received seven Grammy nominations and wining three awards including Best New Artist.

While her follow-up albums didn't reach these same commercial heights, Chapman did maintain a very devoted fan base with all of her records selling very well with them either going Gold or Platinum. She did find pop success again in 1995 with the blues number, "Give Me One Reason" which reached number three on the pop chart and won her a Grammy for Best Rock Song.

Chapman released her last album to date in 2008 with "Our Bright Future" but she still pops up from time to time to perform at charity events for Make Poverty History, amfAR, and AIDS/LifeCycle which are causes that are important to her. Here are two of my favorite songs by the amazing Tracy Chapman: