Tracy Chapman never imagined she would have a No. 1, CMA Award winning song in country music. Chapman is now opening up about the surprising success of “Fast Car,” which Luke Combs released in 2023 on his  Gettin’ Old album.

“I didn’t ever dream of ‘Fast Car’ being a country song,” Chapman admits to the New York Times. “But I’ll say this, and I said this to Luke, too — it’s a bit of a full-circle moment for me. Because I started playing guitar when I was really young, and I think the reason I wanted to play guitar was because I saw Hee Haw. My mom really loved it, and I loved the guitars, the sound, the look.”

“Fast Car” is Chapman’s debut single, released in 1988. 35 years later, Chapman made history with that song, by being the first Black woman to win a CMA Award for Song of the Year.

“I’ve never thought of myself as a country musician, but that is certainly why I was drawn to wanting a guitar,” Chapman explains. “My mom had bought me a ukulele when I was younger, and I had the clarinet, and I played a little on the organ, but the guitar was the thing that I chose for myself.”

Chapman, who has stayed largely out of the spotlight for many years, shocked fans when she joined Combs to sing “Fast Car” with him at the 2024 Grammy Awards.

“In a word, it was great,” Chapman boasts. “It was awesome. It was a very emotional moment for so many reasons. Luke is a lovely person. Before deciding to do it, we had a good talk, and we were both on the same page about how we would approach it. That was where it all had to start.

“I don’t remember the last time I toured,” she adds. “And when you don’t tour, you also don’t have crew. But the awesome thing was that everyone I called to help with this — they showed up.”

The performance, a dream come true for Combs, was also an emotional one for Chapman.

“I was weeping, truthfully, when I walked into the rehearsal space,” Chapman remembers. “Because Denny Fongheiser, who played drums on the record, Larry Klein who played bass and David Kershenbaum, we were all reunited. I’ve seen all of them through the years at various points, but I think that was the first time we were all together in the same room. Joe Gore also played, and he’s been in my touring band, and Larry Campbell, who played fiddle.”

Chapman never predicted that “Fast Car” would have a resurgence decades later. But now that it has, she is profoundly grateful for the song getting another life.

“I think the thing that’s making this connection is that ‘Fast Car’ is a story song, and that’s the foundation of a lot of country music,” the 61-year-old reflects. “I never pay too much attention to genre, personally. I don’t find it relevant or that interesting. It’s a pleasant surprise that the song has found this new home. I wouldn’t have predicted that’s where it would go, but the song has been covered quite a bit, and there’s dance versions of it. I can’t say I would have thought of that either.”