Luke Combs’ chilling cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” has become a concert staple on his world tour and a stand-out track within his fourth studio album, Gettin’ Old. The hitmaker turned to social media late Monday (May 8) evening to reveal the heartwarming story that inspired him to record the 1988 classic.
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The live concert footage was pulled from his recent stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While sporting a Steelers hat, the hitmaker recalled his North Carolina upbringing and how the mellow melody significantly impacted his soul early on.
“I was living in Charlotte, North Carolina, with my parents. My dad had a 1988 Ford F-150 that was brown with a tan camper top on it,” said Combs. “It was probably the cheapest model you could get. I don’t even think it was four-wheel drive, and I remember it had a cassette player in it. Me and my dad would ride around and listen to all sorts of things.”
With an acoustic guitar wrapped around his neck, the country crooner explained that his father had a diverse musical palette.
“My dad listens to everything. My dad grew up in central Ohio, outside of Akron,” he mentioned. “I think his first concert was Pink Floyd in The James Gang—The Night We Landed On The Moon, which I thought was a lot cooler than my first concert. He played me all kinds of music and one of the first songs that I remember hearing, he popped a cassette in, and I loved this whole album.”
The platinum-selling artist said that “Fast Car” captured his attention from his father’s daily radio rotation.
“There was this one song that really stuck out to me. It was called “Fast Car.” That song meant a lot to me since then—for my whole life. I always think about my dad when it comes on and us spending time together.”
After resonating with the Chapman hit, Combs said that he taught himself how to play it on the guitar, which was a challenging task as an aspiring musician.
“As soon as I could play guitar, I tried to learn how to play this song, and it took me so long to learn how to play it cause I was so bad,” he added with a smile. “Last year, I got to record my own version, and about a month ago, I got to put it out.”
“Fast Car” is one of the ear-grabbing tracks from his 18-song collection, which followed his critically acclaimed project, Growin’ Up. Upon release, the rendition peaked at No.2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and No. 14 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Combs released a snippet of the timeless tune nearly six years ago. Since then, fans have encouraged Combs to make it available on streaming platforms. Combs’ manager, Chris Kappy, told Billboard that recording the cover was a no-brainer and would help expand his demographic.
“The demand from our fans has been rabid for “Fast Car” since he first released a snippet of it more than six years ago,” said Kappy to the outlet. “We also felt that it would help draw non-country fans into the genre and experience the wonder that is country music. This song is an iconic masterpiece, and we all felt that it was the perfect song to crossover to a new audience that we didn’t particularly have.”
Kappy declared that Combs would eventually like to create a music video for “Fast Car” and hopes to join forces with Chapman one day.
“As of right now, no. But we never say never to anything,” he said, referring to a possible collaboration. “I don’t think we were looking to make money off of this, as much as Luke wanted to be able to deliver a great song that has shaped his musical career and give it to a new generation and genre of fans.”
The ’80s folk-rock track was penned by Chapman and was released as the lead single from her 1988 self-titled debut record. The song quickly became a hit in the United States, peaking at No.6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and scoring three Grammy Award nominations.
Photo by Toni Anne Barson/FilmMagic
