What We Know About Tracy Chapman's Under-Lock-And-Key Love Life

Over the decades, "Fast Car" singer Tracy Chapman has been adept at balancing celebrity and life out of the public eye. In June 1988, Chapman experienced unexpected fame when she was asked to perform an additional song at a birthday concert for Nelson Mandela. Chapman sang "Fast Car," a song she'd written in college. From the start, the song had helped Chapman get a record deal. Even as "Fast Car" was becoming a huge hit, Chapman wasn't interested in all the attention. "Music was so much in the fabric of my life and upbringing," Chapman later explained to The Irish Times. "At the same time, I have this personality that is a bit on the reserved side, and which had never really sought out the limelight."

Chapman established clear boundaries between her work as a musician/performer and her personal life, and she's been successful in preserving her privacy. For instance, she lives in San Francisco, which even some residents were unaware of. Chapman has been similarly reticent about her love life. When interviewed, she has refrained from mentioning any names of people or even whether or not she's in a relationship at all. 

However, Chapman was known to have been romantically linked to Alice Walker, the author of "The Color Purple." In 2022, Walker published "Gathering Blossoms Under Fire," a memoir featuring excerpts from her private journals. In the book, Walker talks about her two-year relationship with Chapman, which took place in the early 1990s. 

Alice Walker was captivated by Tracy Chapman's voice, and her relationship with the musician developed quickly and intensely. Like Chapman, Walker had a desire to minimize her time in the spotlight too. She also dealt with abrupt fame after the highly quotable book, "The Color Purple," won a Pulitzer Prize.

While their relationship was private, Walker asserts it was common knowledge to the people living in her neighborhood. However, in the 1990s, neither woman had a desire to promote their relationship to make a public statement. "My life is not to be somebody else's impact," Walker explained to The Guardian in 2006. Speaking of her romantic bond with Chapman, she added, "It was delicious and lovely and wonderful and I totally enjoyed it and I was completely in love with her but it was not anybody's business but ours." Even so, Walker did note that she intended to include her relationship with Chapman when she published her journals.

By 2022, Walker had followed through with this plan, when she released her memoir "Gathering Blossoms Under Fire." Sadly, by that time, Walker explained that she and Chapman were estranged. The author also noted that despite Chapman's quest to maintain privacy, Walker didn't have any qualms about disclosing their former romance. "It's my life," Walker told CBS (via CNN). "If she didn't want people to know, we should not have dated."

It's rumored that Tracy Chapman and Guinevere Turner have been a couple, possibly since 2010. Turner co-wrote the screenplay and acted in the film "American Psycho," and she wrote and acted in the TV series "The L Word."  The two women have attended events like the Sundance Film Festival together. However, neither one has ever provided any intimation of a relationship. 

Whether or not Chapman is currently in a relationship with anyone, the musician will likely maintain her commitment to secrecy. Even when pressed for information about romantic partners in interviews, Chapman has refrained from naming any individuals. For instance, in 1996, when pressured to reveal the person that inspired her hit song "Give Me One Reason," Chapman laughed and deflected the interviewer by saying, "We need to protect the innocent." However, Chapman did disclose that she and the unnamed person remained good friends.

Chapman has also commented that keeping her private life under wraps helps her as an artist. "I don't think I would have anything interesting to write about if I didn't give myself time to have a life, to hang out with my friends or read a book or travel someplace I've always wanted to see," Chapman commented in 2002 (via About Tracy Chapman).