When a beloved artist who has not performed live in some time returns to the stage, we often expect them to appear fragile, unsteady, ill at ease.
It was a genuine moment of warmth and unity, the sort seldom offered these days by televised award shows — or televised anything, really.
Thirty-five years ago, at the 1989 Grammy Awards, Chapman stood alone onstage and performed a wrenching rendition of “Fast Car” accompanied by only her own acoustic guitar.
What made Sunday night’s performance feel different wasn’t just the time that had passed, or the gray hair that now elegantly frames Chapman’s face.
It was the presence of Combs, born a year after that Grammy performance, regarding Chapman with an awe-struck reverence.
Persons:
Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs —, Chapman, Combs, —