Who Sang Fast Car at the Grammys? The 2024 Chapman-Combs Duet
Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs both sang “Fast Car” at the 2024 Grammys — together, as a live duet, not as one artist covering the other’s version alone.
It was Chapman’s first live television performance in nine years, and the room reacted like it: a full standing ovation, with stars including Taylor Swift and Brandi Carlile visibly moved and singing along from their seats. The moment reintroduced a 36-year-old song to millions of viewers overnight and sent the original 1988 recording rocketing back up the charts.
Below is exactly what happened on stage that night, how Luke Combs ended up singing Tracy Chapman’s song in the first place, how that 2024 moment compares to Chapman’s original 1989 Grammy win, and who else has covered “Fast Car” over the years.
The 2024 Grammys Performance: Chapman and Combs Sing Fast Car Together
At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, held February 4, 2024, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Tracy Chapman walked out onto the stage alone and opened “Fast Car” with the same acoustic guitar riff that introduced the song back in 1988. Luke Combs joined her a few moments later, standing at a microphone without a guitar of his own.
Chapman sang the first verse. Combs took the next one. The two of them sang the final chorus together, and Combs then stepped back and let Chapman close out the last verse on her own — a deliberate handoff that gave her, not him, the last word on her own song. The performance was a genuine surprise to most of the audience; Chapman had not appeared on live television in nearly a decade before that night.
Why Luke Combs Was Singing Tracy Chapmans Song in the First Place
Combs recorded a faithful cover of “Fast Car” for his 2023 album Gettin’ Old. It became one of the biggest surprise crossover hits of the year: the song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, went platinum by July 2023, and climbed to No. 1 on the country charts that same year — more than three decades after Chapman first wrote it.
That success carried into that November’s CMA Awards, where “Fast Car” won both Song of the Year and Single of the Year. The Song of the Year win made Chapman the first Black songwriter in the award’s history to win it, either solo or as a co-writer. Combs’ version was also nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 2024 Grammys the following February, though it lost that category to Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse.” The Grammy duet performance itself was not tied to any award — it was booked as a standalone tribute moment on the show.
How the Audience Reacted
Camera cuts to the crowd showed a visibly emotional Taylor Swift standing to sing along, along with Brandi Carlile and Jelly Roll. When the song ended, Chapman and Combs received a full standing ovation from the room — a reaction more typical of a marquee award announcement than a mid-show performance slot.
The reaction did not stay inside the arena. In the days after the broadcast, streams and digital sales of Chapman’s original 1988 recording spiked sharply, and the song climbed back onto iTunes and streaming charts it had not appeared on in years — a rare case of a 36-year-old recording becoming a viral moment on its own, separate from the newer Combs version.
Tracy Chapmans Original Fast Car and Her 1989 Grammy Wins
“Fast Car” was released in April 1988 as the lead single from Chapman’s self-titled debut album. The song and the album turned her into a star almost overnight, and by early 1989 she had six Grammy nominations to her name at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards.
“Fast Car” itself was nominated for three of those: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It won the last one. Chapman also won two more Grammys that night for her debut album as a whole — Best New Artist and Best Contemporary Folk Album — bringing her total to three wins in a single evening, all before her 25th birthday.
1989 vs. 2024: How the Two Grammy Moments Compare
| Detail | 1989 Grammys | 2024 Grammys |
|---|---|---|
| Date | February 22, 1989 | February 4, 2024 |
| Who performed it | Tracy Chapman, solo | Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs, duet |
| Version sung | The original 1988 recording | The song both artists had made a hit again in 2023 |
| Award result | Won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the song | Combs’ cover was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance; lost to Chris Stapleton |
| Cultural impact | Launched Chapman as a star | Chapman’s first live TV appearance in 9 years; sent the original back up the charts |
Other Well-Known Fast Car Covers (Not at the Grammys)
Combs is far from the only artist who has taken on “Fast Car” — he is just the one who ended up performing it with Chapman on the Grammy stage. Two other widely known versions never had a Grammy moment of their own:
- Sam Smith (2014) — a slowed-down, jazz-inflected reinterpretation recorded for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, built around piano, strings, and horns instead of an acoustic guitar.
- Jonas Blue featuring Dakota (2015) — a tropical house dance remix that became Jonas Blue’s debut single and climbed to No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, introducing the song to an entirely different, club-oriented audience.
Neither of those covers was ever performed at a Grammy ceremony. As far as the Grammys specifically go, the song has only had two performance moments: Chapman’s solo performance in 1989, and the Chapman-Combs duet in 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Sang Fast Car at the 2024 Grammys?
Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs performed “Fast Car” together as a duet at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024. Chapman opened the song alone on guitar, Combs joined for his verse, and they sang the final chorus together before Chapman closed out the last verse solo.
Did Tracy Chapman Actually Perform at the 2024 Grammys?
Yes. She appeared on stage in person and played guitar throughout the performance. It was her first live television appearance in nine years, which is a large part of why the moment drew a standing ovation and so much attention afterward.
Why Did Luke Combs Cover Fast Car?
Combs recorded “Fast Car” for his 2023 album Gettin’ Old as a faithful, straightforward cover. It unexpectedly became a major country and pop crossover hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the country charts, and later won Song of the Year and Single of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards.
Did Fast Car Win a Grammy in 2024?
No. Combs’ cover was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 2024 Grammys but lost to Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse.” The song’s only Grammy win to date is Chapman’s original 1989 Best Female Pop Vocal Performance award for the 1988 recording.
How Much Did Luke Combs Pay Tracy Chapman for Fast Car?
Combs did not pay Chapman a one-time fee to cover the song. As its sole songwriter, Chapman owns the publishing rights and earns royalties automatically whenever the song is streamed, sold, played on the radio, or performed — including from Combs’ cover. The exact dollar amounts she has earned from the 2023-2024 surge are not public. For a fuller breakdown of how songwriter royalties like this actually work, see our separate piece on how much Tracy Chapman has made from Fast Car.
Who Else Has Covered Fast Car?
Beyond Combs, the best-known covers include Sam Smith’s slowed-down, jazz-inflected 2014 version for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge and Jonas Blue’s 2015 tropical house remix featuring Dakota, which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. For a closer look at how the original stacks up against the version that made it a hit again, see our full Fast Car cover comparison guide.
Conclusion
The short answer is that both Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs sang “Fast Car” at the 2024 Grammys, together, in a duet that turned out to be one of the most talked-about moments of the entire show. It worked because it wasn’t a cover artist performing solo — it was the original songwriter herself, back on a Grammy stage for the first time in decades, handing the song’s final line back to no one but herself.
That single performance connected two very different Grammy nights 35 years apart: Chapman’s star-making win in 1989, and a surprise reunion with her own song in 2024 that introduced it to a whole new generation of listeners.
