Tracy Chapman is a formidable songwriter and singer who started out playing coffeehouses in Boston when she was in college. Since then she's put out 8 albums, the first of which Tracy Chapman sold over 10 million and was #1 in the U.S. and in countries around the world. Seven years after that (in 1995) she released New Beginning, another 10 million seller-- and yielded her a Grammy for the song "Give Me One Reason." Another single from that LP, "Smoke and Ashes," wasn't as successful commercially but was always one of my favorites.