Luke Combs‘ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” has become one of the country star’s biggest successes yet, and he’s impressed some of his fellow artists with the country take on Chapman’s hit song as well, including Thomas Rhett.
Thomas Rhett Shares His Thoughts On Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” Cover
“I listen to Luke Combs’s ‘Fast Car’ and I’m like, ‘It’s incredible,’ you know? That’s like one of my favorite songs of all time,” Thomas Rhett shared, via ABC News, praising Combs for bringing the song, originally released in 1988, “up out of the woodworks of our past and make it relevant.”
“I mean, I was on the beach with my 17-year-old brother last week, and he was listening to ‘Fast Car’ and I said, ‘Hey, do you know who sang that song originally?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, Luke Combs,’” Rhett recalled.
The “Angels” singer added that like many listeners, he’s also a fan of a good remake.
“We’re just kind of in that time where it’s cool that you can sling stuff out there and try new things and experiment with songs that you love in more of a modern way and more of a classic way and more of a dance way and more of a whatever way,” he said. “I think that everybody kind of gets to pick which version they like to consume.”
Darius Rucker Previously Reacted To Combs’ “Fast Car” Cover
Darius Rucker told Audacy’s Katie Neal that Combs’ version of “Fast Car” is “a great cover.”
“When I heard it, I was like, ‘This song’s a smash,’” he said. “That’s such a great song and he took it and made it his own and when you do it like that — that’s goin’ No. 1 fast.”
Rucker, who knows a thing or two about successful covers thanks to his own smash hit with his cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” added that Combs’ cover has introduced Chapman’s song to a wider audience. “There’s a lot of people who didn’t know that song until he did it and that’s what great about those songs,” he said. “You bring a great song to a bunch of new people.”
Why Did Luke Combs Cover “Fast Car”?
Combs’ cover appears on his latest album, Gettin’ Old, and he shared when the project was released that the reason he covered “Fast Car” is because it was one of his favorites songs growing up.
“[It’s] my first favorite song probably ever. I remember listening to that song with my dad in his truck when I was probably four years old,” he said in a press release. “He had a cassette, a tape of it, and we had this old brown camper top F-150.”
“We rode around that thing, and he had a tape cassette player in there, and I have the original cassette — my dad brought it to me a couple of years ago… I have the one, and I have it in my shop,” he continued. “The only music I have in my shop is a cassette player. I love to go to antique stores, and just you can get a bunch of cassette tapes for 50 cents, and some of the best records of all time are on cassette.”
Nominated For CMA Awards, Successful Cover
The success of Combs’ cover has also meant success for Tracy Chapman, who is the sole writer on “Fast Car.”
The song is nominated for Song of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards, giving Chapman her first CMA Awards nomination, and when it topped the Billboard Country Airplay, it made her the first Black woman to have a solo writing credit on a No. 1 country song. Combs’ cover has been holding steady at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is now the most-heard song on radio of any genre.
Read more about Luke Combs’ chart-topping cover of “Fast Car” HERE.
