Born on 30th March 1964, in Cleveland Ohio, Tracy Chapman was destined for a great impact on the music scene. She graduated from high school in Danbury and went to Tufts University in 1982 for a major in anthropology and African studies. At the university, Tracy joined an African drums ensemble but soon developed her own folk guitar playing skills and started to perform at the Boston folk circuit where she played the acoustic guitar and wrote her own songs. Through a college friend, she was introduced to David Kershenbaum who later produced her first album in 1987 when several other producers turned her down. Along with him she was also introduced to Elekra Records where she linked up with manager Elliot Roberts.
When leaving the university, she recorded "For my lover" for a local Boston Musical magazine which had record sales. Her debut album came out with Elekra Records where Kershenbaum produced it. This album was released on April 5th, 1988 after which she toured the US and UK. Her album sold 12,000 copies in 2 days after she appeared at the Wembley stadium concert paying tribute to Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday. In July and August, her single "Fast Car" hit the top ten in UK and US charts respectively. Her strong inclination towards humanitarian work has always been a highlight in her career. She went on a six week tour along with Bruce Sprinsteen, Sting and Peter Gabriel for Amnesty International. This tour was labeled Human Rights NOW!
End of 1989 saw Tracy moving to San Francisco from Boston. Soon afterwards her album Crossroads was certified platinum. She won 3 awards at the 31st annual Grammy awards including Best New Artist. Between this time and her next album "Matters of the heart" release in April 1992 she performed at various benefit concerts specially related to South African freedom movement. She initiated a high-school essay competition titled "Crossroads in black history" and the three winners received scholarships from her. On January 21t, 1991 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its annual dinner at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.
In August 1994, Tracy auditioned for her band members. Andy Stoller (bass), Rock Deadrick (drums) and Glenys Rodgers (percussions) join her to form Tracy's band. They toured the US with their new songs and a year later released the album "New Beginning". This album was certified multi-platinum with over 3 million sales by RIAA. Tracy received three nominations at the 39th annual Grammy's where she won her 4th Grammy for Record of the Year with "Give me one reason" in 1997.
She released her last album "Let it rain" in October 2002 with hit singles like "You're the one" and "Let it rain".
Discography
| Albums | Release |
| Let it Rain | 10/15/2002 |
| Telling Stories | 02/15/2000 |
| New Beginning | 12/02/1995 |
| Matters of the Heart | 05/16/1992 |
| Crossroads | 10/03/1989 |
| Tracy Chapman | 05/05/1988 |