Tracy began writing poetry at an early age and when she was eight she received her first guitar from her mother. An academic scholarship allowed her to attend high school in Connecticut, before studying anthropology at Tufts University in Massachusetts. During this time she began playing on the Boston folk circuit and at local coffeehouses.

It wasn’t long before her talents were spotted, and in 1987 she signed a recording deal with Elektra. Her self-titled debut album was released in 1988 and met with immediate critical and commercial success.

An appearance at the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert at Wembley Arena in the same year helped boost her international profile. Album sales shot through the roof following this one appearance and she went on to sell over 10 million copies and win three Grammy awards.

Tracks like ‘Fast Car’ and ‘Baby Can I Hold You’ became instant radio favourites. Although Tracy’s second album, ‘Crossroads’, went platinum it failed to match the success of her first outing. While performing at a number of charity concerts, Tracy continued to write and record songs for her next album – ‘Matters Of The Heart’

A four year sabbatical led to ’New Beginning’ in 1995 which went some way in restoring the commercial successes of her debut album, selling three million in the US alone. Another four year sabbatical saw her join the all women Lilith Tour and take part in a Bob Marleytribute in Jamaica.

Tracy’s fifth album ‘Telling Stories’ was released in 2000 and in 2003 she released ‘Let It Rain’.