Tracy Chapman
Grammy-award winning musician

[Biography | Honorary Degree]

As an undergraduate at Tufts, Tracy Chapman, J86, took her guitar to Harvard Square and soon became a regular on the Boston folk club scene. In 1988, however, the success of her self-titled debut album ensured that hers became a voice heard around the world. That album jump-started the career of one of America’s most socially conscious singer-songwriters.

Chapman’s distinctive voice, singing the stories of the hard-pressed people most of society would like to forget, speaks to the hearts and the minds of her fans. “Armed only with her voice, her guitar and her conscience, Tracy Chapman has helped make protest music fashionable again,” Time magazine reported in 1990. But being “fashionable” has never appeared to be on Chapman’s agenda. Her public persona is simple and direct. She lets her lyrics—and that clear, soulful voice—speak for her.

Chapman grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She received a scholarship to a Connecticut preparatory school, where she became known among her classmates for her songs backed by acoustic guitar. At Tufts, she majored in anthropology. In an interview with The New York Times in 2000, Chapman recalled taking “every ethnomusicology course that was available” at Tufts, including West African drumming and Japanese classical music.

As she continued to build an audience, a Tufts schoolmate encouraged his father, a music business executive, to listen to her music; soon others in the industry were taking note. In 1987, she signed a contract with Elektra Records, and in April 1988, the album Tracy Chapman was released. “Confrontational rather than confessional, pointed rather than poetic, hers is the sound of a smart black woman growing up in the city with her eyes wide open,” Rolling Stone said in its four-star review.

In June of that year, Chapman played at Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in London—and the world took notice. By July, her album topped the British charts, and the single, “Fast Car,” went to Number 5; by August, the album and single were heading up the U.S. charts. That September, she joined an all-star lineup for the Human Rights Now! World Tour for Amnesty International. In 1998, she performed at the White House at a celebration for the 30th anniversary of the Special Olympics. Throughout her career, Chapman has continued to play at numerous benefit events for political and social justice causes.

Chapman’s debut album brought her three Grammys, including Best New Artist; she received her fourth in 1997 for the single “Give Me One Reason,” which was named Record of the Year. She has released five albums since her eponymous debut: Crossroads (1989), Matters of the Heart (1992), New Beginning (1995), Telling Stories (2000) and Let it Rain (2002).

In a business dominated by glitz, glamour and the urge to tell all, Chapman avoids the limelight and remains, like her songs, introspective. “I don’t think I would have anything interesting to write about,” she told the Associated Press in 2002, “if I didn’t give myself time to have a life, to hang out with my friends, or read a book or travel someplace I’ve always wanted to see.”

Chapman will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.