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Tracy Chapman

singer-songwriter, singer, street artist, composer, guitarist, recording artist

1964

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter. She was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released her self-titled debut album, which became a commercial success, boosted by her appearance at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert, and was certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album received six Grammy Award nominations, including one for Album of the Year, three of which she won: Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single "Fast Car", and Best Contemporary Folk Album. In 2025, the album was preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

All Quotes by Tracy Chapman

People's real hopes and dreams can be distorted and misdirected and packaged until you're not sure what you really want or what you even really need.

Tracy Chapman

If you are living a life that feels right to you, if you're willing to take creative chances or a creative path that feels like it's mostly in keeping with your sensibilities, you know, aesthetic and artistic, then that's what matters.

Tracy Chapman

People's real hopes and dreams can be distorted and misdirected and packaged until you're not sure what you really want or what you even really need.

Tracy Chapman

As a child…I always had a sense of social conditions and political situations. I think it had to do with the fact that my mother was always discussing things with my sister and me — also because I read a lot. A lot of people in similar situations just have a sense that they’re poor or disenfranchised, but they don’t really think about what’s created the situation or what factors don’t allow them to control their lives.

Tracy Chapman

It seems to me that that image was created for female folk singers because they actually had a lot more control than other women in the music scene…They wrote their own songs, they played them, they performed by themselves — there you have a picture of a very independent person, and trying to make them seem emotional and fragile and all puts a softer edge on it. As if there was something wrong with being independent.

Tracy Chapman

I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in…That's what everyone should do with their lives…stand up for what they believe in, or try to do some good in the world. I don't think artists have a greater responsibility than anyone else.

Tracy Chapman

I often write either really early in the morning, or really late at night.

Tracy Chapman

There have been some gains made in terms of more equality for women in the workplace and in the way the legal system deals with issues of violence against women.

Tracy Chapman