Watch Black Pumas Play ‘Colors’ and Cover Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ on ‘Seth Meyers’ and ‘Colbert’

Acclaimed Austin blues/rock duo Black Pumas had a huge 2019, releasing a self-titled debut album that led to a Best New Artist nomination at the Grammys — and the band had big plans for 2020, until the COVID-19 pandemic came along.

Black Pumas were going to be a great under-the-radar band to watch at Coachella, only to see the festival delayed (and, since, cancelled entirely), but Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada are keeping busy as much as possible given the circumstances.

This week, the band turned in a pair of performances. For Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Pumas performed “Colors,” their breakout single from the self-titled album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yJbh3i_Gv0

And for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” a single which was officially released last week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7AVeI9Ol-4

It’s that Tracy Chapman cover that holds special meaning for Burton, who spent his days as a traveling street performer before forming Black Pumas, and this song had always struck a deeply personal chord with him. As he said in a statement:

To me, ‘Fast Car’ is a song of hope, dreams and a relentless heart to go somewhere and be someone. I learned the song when I first began to busk and of the covers that I knew, it garnered the most attention from the random passerby. As a musician and artist, I’m attracted to songs that make us reflect on our daily struggles for making life worth living for.”

Black Pumas had been performing the cover on the road frequently, as well.