\n<\/p>\n
But she can still be seen around town. The owner of a bookstore where she sometimes shops posted on X after her Grammys performance that she was \u201cso down to earth in real life\u201d when spotted buying food for her dog at a local pet store. (The post was later deleted.) Others have observed her standing in line at a popular bakery. Before the pandemic, she served as a judge for a high school scholarship program run by the founders of Beach Blanket Babylon, a now-defunct cabaret.<\/p>\n
Lee Housekeeper, a public relations executive and music promoter in San Francisco, said he had met Chapman a few times at her studio and rehearsal space. He said she was very nice and that they had chatted about performing artists they both know.<\/p>\n
A state assemblyman, Matt Haney, said he\u2019s only seen her once, at a school board meeting in 2018 when he served on that board. She was there to support the school district naming a theater on its property after her friend Sydney Goldstein. It now houses San Francisco\u2019s popular City Arts & Lectures program.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t make a big deal of being there,\u201d Haney recalled in an interview. \u201cI don\u2019t think she even came to the mic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Grammys performance instantly became a career highlight for Chapman, and it could well stoke demand for her return to recording and touring. This year she is also nominated for the Songwriters Hall of Fame<\/a>. If she is inducted \u2014 a good bet \u2014 that could provide another opportunity for a public appearance.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always been demand for Tracy Chapman to return to performing,\u201d Rich McLaughlin, the program director at WFUV, a radio station in New York that celebrates songwriters, said in an email. \u201cWhether or not it will increase the chances of her doing so, however, is difficult to predict.\u201d<\/p>\n Chapman\u2019s longtime fans may have their fingers crossed, but they have also learned patience.<\/p>\n \u201cTracy Chapman is an artist who follows her muse, not market demand,\u201d McLaughlin added. \u201cIf she based her decision solely on demand, she\u2019d have returned to touring years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n