Tracy Chapman’s song “Fast Car” won CMA Song of the Year

Long-time beloved folk singer Tracy Chapman Residing in San Francisco, is back on top with a song she penned decades ago. On Wednesday, Chapman’s 1988 classic “Fast Car” won song of the year at the Country Music Awards, thanks to a cover by country music star Luke Combs.

“It’s a huge honor to have my song newly recognized 35 years after it first appeared,” said presenter Sarah Evans on Chapman’s behalf.

The poem tells the story of the doomed love of two young men who hope, but fail, to escape the constraints of their impoverished hometown. When it premiered, Fast Car successfully catapulted Chapman from obscurity to stardom. Now, it’s back to becoming one of the country’s most popular songs.

Earlier this year, Combs’ version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, making her a major hit Chapman is the first black woman to top the list With only written credit. Combs’ version also reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing the original, which peaked at number six. Between the original, Combs’ version and a 2015 cover by Jonas Blue, the song has amassed more than 2 billion streams on Spotify.

While Chapman publicly supported Combs, the white man who gained plaudits for the actions of a woman of color got some things wrong.

“On the one hand, Luke Combs is an amazing artist, and it’s great to see that someone in country music is being influenced by a queer black woman — that’s really exciting.” But at the same time, it’s really hard to bank on that excitement knowing that Tracy Chapman won’t “It’s celebrated in the industry without that kind of middleman being a white guy.” Holly Jfounder of Black Opry, to Washington Post.