Tracy Chapman’s 1988 song Fast Car has earned a second shot at chart glory, thanks to a performance on Britain’s Got Talent.The classic tune, which reached number five when it was first released, has entered the UK chart at four and could possibly go higher.
It comes after Michael Collings, a contestant on the ITV1 show, performed an acoustic version of the song, prompting thousands of viewers at home to later download the original track.
Viewers watched as judges Amanda Holden, David Hasseshoff and Michael McIntyre were wowed by Collings’ performance, comparing him to previous contestant Susan Boyle who has since gone on to achieve worldwide success.
He later told Daybreak: “I was expecting a sort of crowd response, but obviously it was amazing to get that sort of response with the standing ovation and the cheering and things like that – I just wasn’t expecting it so it was just a shock to my system.”
Collings’ cover has already been viewed 400,000 times on YouTube.
Fast Car was the biggest UK chart hit for American singer-songwriter Chapman whose recording also won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1989.
The song raced up the chart on both sides of the Atlantic after she performed it at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in the summer of 1988. Rolling Stone also ranked the song at number 165 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Meanwhile, Adele’s 21 has reclaimed its UK number one album spot from Foo Fighters after one week off the top.