Tracy Chapman Sydney Sacco

History Born March 30, 1964, now 50 years old. From Cleveland, Ohio She was introduced into music when she was just three years old when her mother bought her a ukulele. Learned how to play the Guitar at age 8. Tracy grew up with just her mother, living in poverty. She was on Scholarship called “A better Chance” at a private school which opened many doors for her future. She first started performing at parks and street festivals to get noticed. Tracy Graduated College at Tufts University, near Boston with her Anthropology degree.

Genre Tracy was known as a Folk singer In her later albums she began to sing more rock and pop-culture music. Her manly voice was a characteristic that made her stand out from other musicians. She wrote all of her own music.

Career Tracy was first noticed by a fellow student of hers at Tufts University. He showed her talent to his father, Charles Koppelman, who ran SBK publishing. Charles loved the way that Tracy’s music touched the audience’s heart. He signed her in Soon after that, in 1987 when she graduated college she signed with Elektra Records. Tracy took off from here. Her first hit “Fast Car” was performed at the Nelson Mandela 70 th Birthday tribute. She traveled everywhere on tour, bringing many different crowds together. She was a huge influence on people who also lived in poverty. The song “Fast Car” is about the hard times that she went through, but that there are ways to come out from it. She was nominated for eight Grammy Awards and won four. Best new artist, best female pop vocal performer and best contemporary folk album. She has also won nine other music awards. Tracy has eight albums, the last album was released in 2008.

Influences Tracy’s main influence came from the American TV show, “Heehaw” which was a mix of comedy and Country music. Bonnie Raitt who was an American Blues songwriter. Bonnie was hugely involved in Social Activism.

Social Activist Chapman has long worked as an activist, speaking and performing on behalf of several nonprofit organizations, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Circle of Life. During a 2003 event to benefit Circle of Life, Chapman performed a memorable duet with Bonnie Raitt, of the John Prine song "Angel From Montgomery."

Works Cited Unknown. "Tracy Chapman." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr Web. 14 Apr Unknown. "Who Is Tracy Chapman?" About Tracy Chapman RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr "Tracy Chapman." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 14 Apr