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Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, February 7th, 2024 and this is a special episode of

the excerpt. On Sunday night a black woman and a white man sang together about people down on their

luck and dreaming of better lives.

The life performance of Fast Car at this year's grammies resonated with millions.

Following the awards ceremony, social media exploded with praise and admiration for Tracy Chapman, the song's

composer, and country singer Luke Combs, who recorded an award-winning cover version last year.

Many viewers were moved to tears. What made this moment such an

inflection point for Americans? Here to talk us through this cultural significance

of the performance is Life and Entertainment Managing Editor Laura Trujillo.

Laura, thanks for joining us.

Hi, thanks for having me on.

What almost feels gratuitous to talk about the song, the moment, the electricity of that

duet from the Grammys?

First off, you were in the room.

Can you please take us back to that moment when Tracy and Luke took the stage and started playing? What was that like?

It was amazing, which I think everyone knows who saw it, but we weren't expecting Tracy Chapman out there.

I mean, they had announced that Luke would be there.

And so we all assumed he would be singing that song.

I think there was some hope that Tracy Chapman might show up,

but you know, she hasn't been performing

...