Tracy Chapman's 36-year-old original version of 'Fast Car' is back on the radio.
One of the most beloved moments at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4 was a rare public performance by Chapman, who teamed up with country artist Luke Combs for a duet version of the song. Originally a hit for Chapman in 1988, Combs' version brought the song a chart revival last year.
Now, Rhino Records serves Chapman's song in alternative, adult contemporary, Americana, classic hits, classic rock, college and non-commercial formats, according to a source. The recording was originally released on Elektra but is now part of Warner Music Group's catalog division managed by Rhino.
Rhino is also editing video of the pair's Grammy performance and asking radio stations to add the clip to their social media and websites, but there are no plans to make a quality audio version of the clip available on radio.
Following Chapman and Combs' duet at the Grammys, the original version of “Fast Car” earned 6 million official streams in the U.S. from Feb. 2 to Feb. 8, up 153 percent, according to Luminate. “Fast Car” also gained 35,000 digital downloads, pushing it to the top of the digital song sales chart for the first time.
On Monday (Feb. 5), the day after the Grammys performance, “Fast Car” earned 949,000 official on-demand streams — up 241% from the 278,000 it earned the previous Monday (Jan. 29). The song also saw its digital sales rise, increasing by 38,400% from “a negligible amount to almost 14,000”. Advertising sign previously reported on February 7. Combs also saw his version's streams increase 37% to nearly 1.6 million, while sales rose nearly 3,900% to just over 6,000.
Chapman's original “Fast Car” re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 this week, peaking at No. 42. Her version previously appeared on the Hot 100 in October 1988, peaking at No. 6. Combs' version peaked at No. 2 on the same chart in 2023.
Reporting assistance for this story was provided by Melinda Newman.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/radio/tracy-chapman-fast-car-original-version-radio-grammys-1235608752/