Luke Combs Thought There Was No Way In Hell Tracy Chapman Would Perform With Him At The Grammys: “Bro, That Ain’t Gonna Happen”

We all remember the iconic “Fast Car” performance from Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman last year at the 2024 Grammys.

The two executed a showstopping performance, leaving fans in awe of their stage chemistry and beautifully blended sound. The duet became an overnight sensation online, with clips going viral on several different social media platforms.

Recently Luke Combs talked about the performance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, where he admits that, for a while, he didn’t think Tracy would be a part of the performance at all.

Luke says that initially, the Grammys came to his team to discuss the idea of the two performing the song together, and even though Luke was very interested, he wasn’t very hopeful that Chapman would agree.

“My team was like ‘The Grammys are thinking about doing this and I just remember thinking, like, it’s not gonna happen. She just doesn’t do anything. They were like, ‘would you be interested?’ and I was like, ‘well, f****** obviously I’d be interested,’ but it’s not gonna happen.”

He wasn’t wrong for having low expectations, country legend Tracy Chapman significantly reduced her number of public appearances and performances since her last recorded album in 2008, mainly staying out of the public eye and avoiding the press. She was clear that time spent away from the spotlight would allow her to lead a more private life. Apparently, she doesn’t even have a team that handles these things for her, so getting in touch with her was extra challenging.

Luke says that after a few months of waiting to hear back from his team, he got a call while sitting in the tree stand at his house. The call informed him that Tracy wanted to talk with him on the phone the next morning at 7 o’clock.

Up until this point, the two had never spoken to one another, even with Luke’s cover of “Fast Car” hitting the top of the charts long before their conversation.

According to Luke, Tracy called right on time and the two spoke for nearly 45 minutes. Initially, Combs was nervous, and rightfully so, I would be nervous too if I had the opportunity to speak with one of my heroes on the phone, but Tracy reassured him that she loved his rendition of her song.

Luke spoke to her about how much of a fan he was, asking her questions about her discography and musical choices she had made throughout her career.

“I was getting deep. She could tell I was a real fan, I really cared about the records and stuff.”

On the podcast Combs also expresses his theory that this phone call was Tracy’s way of testing the waters. Basically, confirming that Luke was a good guy who truly cared about music, not just some person who was in it for ulterior motives.

“She didn’t say this, but I think that was her trying to figure out if she wanted to do it or not. She’s like I don’t want to go up with this guy if this guy sucks, pretty much, which I have respect for.”

Even after the call went swimmingly, Luke was still left with uncertainty about the potential duet. After saying their goodbyes, it still took another month before it was confirmed that Tracy said yes— and thank God she did.

The performance was truly moving, and every comment I read under a clip of it talks about how beautiful the moment was.

“The space she gives him. The complete respect he gives her. The love the crowd gives them both. It’s a magical music moment.”

I’m so glad that Tracy finally took a step into the spotlight again, and Luke Combs was the perfect artist to do it with.

The post Luke Combs Thought There Was No Way In Hell Tracy Chapman Would Perform With Him At The Grammys: “Bro, That Ain’t Gonna Happen” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.