In 1989, she released her second album,Crossroads, which earned her an additional Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Her third album,Matters of the Heart, followed in 1992. Her fourth album,New Beginning, was released in 1995 and became another worldwide success. It was certified 5× platinum by theRIAA and yielded the hit single "Give Me One Reason", which earned her theGrammy Award for Best Rock Song.
Chapman was born inCleveland and was raised by her mother, who bought her aukulele at age three.[3] Her parents divorced when she was four years old.[4] She began playing guitar and writing songs at age eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television showHee Haw.[5] In her native Cleveland, she experienced frequent bullying andracially motivated assaults as a child.[6]
Her follow-up album,Crossroads (1989), was less commercially successful than her debut had been, but it still achieved platinum status in the U.S.[20] In 1992, she releasedMatters of the Heart.[21] Her fourth album,New Beginning (1995), proved successful, selling over five million copies in the U.S. alone.[20] The album included the hit single "Give Me One Reason", which won the1997 Grammy forBest Rock Song and became her most successful single in the U.S. to date, peaking at No. 3 on theBillboard Hot 100,[22] and going Platinum.[20] Her fifth album,Telling Stories, was released in 2000, and later went gold.[20] She released her sixth album,Let It Rain, in 2002.[23]
She was commissioned by theAmerican Conservatory Theater to compose music for its production ofAthol Fugard'sBlood Knot, a play aboutapartheid in South Africa, staged in early 2008.[24] Atlantic Records released her eighth studio album,Our Bright Future (2008).[25] The album earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album the following year.[19]
Chapman andEric Clapton on stage at a White House Special Olympics dinner, December 1998
On November 20, 2015, she releasedGreatest Hits, consisting of 18 tracks including the live version of "Stand by Me". The album is her first global compilation release.[28][better source needed]
In October 2018, she sued the rapperNicki Minaj over copyright infringement, alleging that Minaj hadsampled her song "Baby Can I Hold You" without permission.[29] Chapman stated that she had "repeatedly denied" permission for "Baby Can I Hold You" to be sampled. The lawsuit alleged that Minaj had engaged in copyright infringement (a) by creating the song "Sorry" and (b) by distributing it; she requested an injunction to prevent Minaj from releasing the song. According to the lawsuit, Chapman has a policy of declining all requests for permission to sample her songs. In September 2020, District Court JudgeVirginia A. Phillips granted summary judgment in favor of Minaj on the first count of her complaint, stating that Minaj's experimentation with Chapman's song constitutedfair use rather thancopyright infringement.[30] However, the judge ruled that the second count of the complaint should go to trial. In January 2021, the dispute was settled when Minaj paid Chapman $450,000.[31]
Chapman is politically and socially active. In a 2009 interview withNational Public Radio, she said, "I'm approached by lots of organizations and lots of people who want me to support their various charitable efforts in some way. And I look at those requests and I basically try to do what I can. And I have certain interests of my own, generally an interest in human rights."[5] In 1988 she performed in London as part of a worldwide concert tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights withAmnesty International.[39] That same year she performed at a tribute concert in honor of South African activist and leaderNelson Mandela's 70th birthday, an event which raised money for South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement and several children's charities.[40] She also performed at the event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International held in Paris on December 10, 1998, known as "The Struggle Continues...". She was one of the guest artists atPavarotti & Friends for Cambodia and Tibet on June 6, 2000, at which she performed a critically acclaimed duet withLuciano Pavarotti of "Baby Can I Hold You Tonight".[41] In 2004, she performed and rode in theAIDS/LifeCycle event.[42][better source needed]
She has been involved with Cleveland's elementary schools, producing an educational music video highlighting achievements in African-American history. She sponsored "Crossroads in Black History", an essay contest for high school students in Cleveland and other cities.[43]
She received an honorary doctorate fromSaint Xavier University in Chicago in 1997.[44] In 2004 she was given an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts by her alma mater,Tufts University, recognizing her commitment to social activism.[45]
I'm fortunate that I've been able to do my work and be involved in certain organizations, certain endeavors, and offered some assistance in some way. Whether that is about raising money or helping to raise awareness, just being another body to show some force and conviction for a particular idea. Finding out where the need is – and if someone thinks you're going to be helpful, then helping.
On April 16, 2023, theSouth African Presidency announced that Chapman along with others would be bestowed with a National Order –TheOrder of the Companions of O. R. Tambo which "recognizes eminent foreign nationals for friendship shown to South Africa. It is therefore an Order of peace, cooperation and active expression of solidarity and support." The Order was bestowed in Silver on her "for her contribution to the fight for freedom by participating in efforts to free Nelson Mandela and raising awareness of human rights violations globally." Aninvestiture ceremony for the bestowment was held on April 28, 2023.[47]
Although Chapman has never publicly discussed hersexual orientation, writerAlice Walker has said she and Chapman were in a romantic relationship during the mid-1990s.[48][49] Chapman maintains a strong separation between her personal and professional life.[50][4] "I have a public life that's my work life and I have my personal life", she said. "In some ways, the decision to keep the two things separate relates to the work I do."[50] Chapman lives in San Francisco.[51]
^"Nominations – 1996". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived fromthe original on September 18, 2009. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2018.
