Record album:Tracy Chapman

Husky-voiced Cleveland native Tracy Chapman created a sensation with her self-titled debut album in 1988. Critics heralded her as a revival of the female singer-songwriter tradition of the 1970s. Unabashedly liberal in a conservative era, Chapman tackled tough social problems in her strong, gutsy songs. Her influences included such folk-rock singers as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. "Fast Car" describes a high school dropout with an alcoholic father who longs to break out and live her own life. In the ballad "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution," she sings about poverty in America. "Fast Car" reached #6 on the pop charts, the album went multi-platinum, and Chapman won four Grammy Awards in 1989, including Best New Artist.