Barbra Streisand

[JSparksFan]

How outrageous is it that there doesn't exist a topic for this absolute legend of a performer!

With almost 72 million albums shifted in the United States alone, Barbra Streisand is easily the best selling female artist in the US and one of the biggest selling female acts worldwide. Her career has spanned a mind-boggling six decades and she has undoubtedly stamped her mark on the music industry.

She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, five Emmy Awards including one Daytime Emmy, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Kennedy Center Honors award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who has won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.



Let's discuss this quintessential legend of a vocalist!

[Eamon]

"The Way We Were" is a great song.

[JSparksFan]

^ It certainly is, but recently I've been spinning "Woman In Love" and "Don't Rain On My Parade" like a starved madman. Do you like those two?

[Eamon]

^ Yeah they are. Actually I'm not that familiar with Barbara's music at really except for those three songs and "Memory". "Woman In Love" has such an instantly recognisable chorus. She has such a gorgeous voice. Such a traditional, timeless vocalist.

[JSparksFan]

^ Yeah they are. Actually I'm not that familiar with Barbara's music at really except for those three songs and "Memory". "Woman In Love" has such an instantly recognisable chorus. She has such a gorgeous voice. Such a traditional, timeless vocalist.

Yes, yes, yes!

Honestly, I'm not very familiar with her work either but I've just finished spinning her debut album and I'm on to her sophomore effort now and I can say that her stuff is quality! I love the theatricality of her recordings. I can't see how anyone can call her boring, to be honest. There's so much energy and dramatic flair in her delivery and listening to her is like listening to technical perfection. Her voice is faultless!

Oh, and I read on Wikipedia the other day (so take this next bit of text with a grain of salt) that that ten-second long note in "Woman In Love" was the longest unaltered note by a soloist in a #1 song up until Whitney's "I Will Always Love You".

[Eamon]

Honestly, I'm not very familiar with her work either but I've just finished spinning her debut album and I'm on to her sophomore effort now and I can say that her stuff is quality! I love the theatricality of her recordings. I can't see how anyone can call her boring, to be honest. There's so much energy and dramatic flair in her delivery and listening to her is like listening to technical perfection. Her voice is faultless!

Oh, and I read on Wikipedia the other day (so take this next bit of text with a grain of salt) that that ten-second long note in "Woman In Love" was the longest unaltered note by a soloist in a #1 song up until Whitney's "I Will Always Love You".

She's not boring at all. I find her voice always tells a story. There is such conviction behind it and I also love that theatricality of her voice too. I totally see her appeal and this might come across bad, but it's not meant in that way, I could totally imagine myself listening to her music in my 50's and onwards!! Her voice is truly faultless. She has the type of voice that you could listen to all day long.

And that note in "Woman in Love" has always stood out to me. "Memory" is probably my favourite song she has done (that I have heard). That song gave me chills the first time I heard it. Her voice just soars at the end of that song and you can't help but be captivated by the story she is telling. It is such a haunting song.

[JSparksFan]

She's not boring at all. I find her voice always tells a story. There is such conviction behind it and I also love that theatricality of her voice too. I totally see her appeal and this might come across bad, but it's not meant in that way, I could totally imagine myself listening to her music in my 50's and onwards!! Her voice is truly faultless. She has the type of voice that you could listen to all day long.

And that note in "Woman in Love" has always stood out to me. "Memory" is probably my favourite song she has done (that I have heard). That song gave me chills the first time I heard it. Her voice just soars at the end of that song and you can't help but be captivated by the story she is telling. It is such a haunting song.

Oh no, that doesn't come across bad at all! In fact, I agree with you. As much as I love my Pop girls, I am a bit nervous as to what their music will sound like thirty years from now. How outdated will their beats sound to the ears? That's the thing about having a great voice. As trends come and go, a legendary voice remains timeless and is always (or should always be) appreciated.

I need to listen to "Memory" again. You should check out "Come To The Supermarket In Old Perking" from her first album. Its title is so delightfully random as are the lyrics. The song will probably have you laughing in some parts but her delivery is amazing. "Gotta Move" from The Second Barbra Streisand Album is another track I highly recommend.

[GetBack]

I listened to her discography some years before. She is an amazing performer, even her live concerts are so entertaining, especially when she reminisces and talks to the audience. I am so impressed that she can still sing effortlessly live!

[CelinetoBarbra]

Barbra's achievement in UK is alos amzaing
From matthew_dixon's post.

Singles Rank: 230
Albums Rank: 39
Biggest Decade: 80s

Next up in this countdown, it's time to look back on the career of another female soloist - and one of the biggest female soloists of all. Barbra Streisand is someone not often talked about here on UKMIX, but from what I have heard, her sales figures globally rival those of Mariah, Madonna and Celine. I do often wish it could be proved once and for all that she had actually beaten them in sales figures, as that would just about shut EVERYONE up in the tired old argument! Anyway, her career started in the 60s, but its biggest period was in the late 70s and early 80s - particularly with the huge hit "Woman In Love". She also duetted with a number of legendary names, including Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Neil Diamond and of course Donna Summer on the disco classic "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)".

She went on to be one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's favourite picks for his musicals, and charted with hits from Cats, Phantom of the Opera and most noteably 90s musical Sunset Boulevard. However, it's the love theme from another musical, the film musical "A Star Is Born", that is her biggest hit of all. As can clearly be seen from the stats above, Barbra's entry here is far more down to hugely successful albums (she's had 6 No. 1s!) than her rather more modest singles success.

Biggest Singles:
1. Evergreen (Love Theme from "A Star Is Born")
2. Woman In Love
3. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (with Donna Summer)
4. Tell Him (with Celine Dion)
5. You Don't Bring Me Flowers (with Neil Diamond)

Biggest Album: Love Songs

[ThomyX]

I only heard 'A Christmas Album' and 'Release Me' from her and they're pretty good, I like them. I love her voice but most of her songs are just not for my taste, I find them too 'musical-ish'. 'The Way We Were' is a great song indeed and I'm willing to listen to some more of her songs if you recommend me a few, Akini!

[Spartan]

Akini's turned into UKMix's resident Streisand stan.

[JSparksFan]

I listened to her discography some years before. She is an amazing performer, even her live concerts are so entertaining, especially when she reminisces and talks to the audience. I am so impressed that she can still sing effortlessly live!

Yes, she is an astounding live performer! I think I remember reading that it took three decades for her to go on her first concert tour because she's always suffered from a terrible case of stage fright, which is ironic because I truly believe she was born to perform!

I only heard 'A Christmas Album' and 'Release Me' from her and they're pretty good, I like them. I love her voice but most of her songs are just not for my taste, I find them too 'musical-ish'. 'The Way We Were' is a great song indeed and I'm willing to listen to some more of her songs if you recommend me a few, Akini!

Aw, I'd love to recommend you my fave Barbra songs thus far (I've only heard her first two albums in full at this point but I am determined to hear every single song she's ever recorded before this summer). The thing is, many of my favourites are overly theatrical so I'm not sure if they'll click with you.

I'll go out on a limb and still recommend "Come To The Supermarket (In Old Peking)" and "Gotta Move" - my favourites from her debut and sophomore records, respectively. You may already know "Woman In Love", "Don't Rain On My Parade", and her legendary duet with Donna Summer, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" but if you don't, I highly recommend them too. "People" is another fan favourite that I love.

Akini's turned into UKMix's resident Streisand stan.

Yes!

[NothingFails]

Her voice is great, but to me movies are where I adore her the most, especially in films like Funny Girl and Yentl where she both acted and sang.

Although the 1976 A Star Is Born is a mess of a film, there was a lot of ego clashing behind the scenes and the film was basically a vanity project for Babs, its hard not to love the movie if you like Barbra because she makes you care about her despite a weak script, and of course whenever her character sang it was magical. I recently bought that on blu-ray, and plan on getting Funny Girl in April when that comes out in HD. "Hello Gorgeous"

To me with Babs, it all comes down to the last four minutes of Yentl... what a phenemenal vocal performance and an great way to end the movie. The whole "watch me flyyyyyyy!!!" ending is as epic as it gets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_jjHAQoJU

[GetBack]

I was so moved by her Oscars performance, she's still the vocalist to beat! So much emotion in that number!

[JasonJ]

I was so moved by her Oscars performance, she's still the vocalist to beat! So much emotion in that number!

I have to disagree, respectfully.
I thought it was one of her worst performances. it had nothing in it...

Anyway,
When I hear Lady Streisand, I immediately think of her collabs with Neil Diamond "you dont bring me flowers anymore", Donna Summer "no more crying" and MrGibb : "Guilty"...

One of her songs which was a massive hot in South America "left in the dark"
Barbra is a FORCE!

[JasonJ]

Her voice is great, but to me movies are where I adore her the most, especially in films like Funny Girl and Yentl where she both acted and sang.

Although the 1976 A Star Is Born is a mess of a film, there was a lot of ego clashing behind the scenes and the film was basically a vanity project for Babs, its hard not to love the movie if you like Barbra because she makes you care about her despite a weak script, and of course whenever her character sang it was magical. I recently bought that on blu-ray, and plan on getting Funny Girl in April when that comes out in HD. "Hello Gorgeous"

To me with Babs, it all comes down to the last four minutes of Yentl... what a phenemenal vocal performance and an great way to end the movie. The whole "watch me flyyyyyyy!!!" ending is as epic as it gets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_jjHAQoJU

THIS.

Yentl is an amazing movie....

[GetBack]

I was so moved by her Oscars performance, she's still the vocalist to beat! So much emotion in that number!

I have to disagree, respectfully.
I thought it was one of her worst performances. it had nothing in it...

[Wayne]

She's actually shifted 85m albums or more in the USA - she's very under-certified but is by far and away the most successful female artist of all-time, in the USA [around 65% of her total worldwide album sales are from the USA].

As for her voice, I think she still commands such respect and attention because her voice is still top notch. Other than obviously a reduction in her vocal power, her voice is still very much as good as it was in the 1970's, when she was at her vocal peak.

She's so classy; though if you're going to listen to every album she's ever done, album-by-album Akini, then you're going to be here forever! She's put out a lot of dross over the years IMO.

[CelinetoBarbra]

My favorite ablum of Barbra is emotion,a great try!!!
And Tell him,no more tears,a piece of sky,oh only ground,memory.the voice of US

[Wayne]

Although not a hit in America due to not being released [it was originally scheduled to be the lead single from Celine's album until My Heart Will Go On came about] I think Tell Him was another phase of reinvention for Barbra. It came about at the same time as Higher Ground; suddenly, Barbra was working with the hottest star in the world [Celine] - I've done a trawl through Google archives and there's a shed load of articles on this one song.

Its a shame that they never got to perform it live - according to some insiders, Barbra chickened out and faked sickness at the last minute! But whatever the story, Celine got to collaborate with one of her icons and Barbra got to reinvent herself.

And the Higher Ground album turned out to be exceptional!

[CelinetoBarbra]

It's reported that Barbra will record a duet album,may be with Rihanna,adele!!!!!

[CelinetoBarbra]

Although not a hit in America due to not being released [it was originally scheduled to be the lead single from Celine's album until My Heart Will Go On came about] I think Tell Him was another phase of reinvention for Barbra. It came about at the same time as Higher Ground; suddenly, Barbra was working with the hottest star in the world [Celine] - I've done a trawl through Google archives and there's a shed load of articles on this one song.

Its a shame that they never got to perform it live - according to some insiders, Barbra chickened out and faked sickness at the last minute! But whatever the story, Celine got to collaborate with one of her icons and Barbra got to reinvent herself.

And the Higher Ground album turned out to be exceptional!

Yes,the single sold over 1 million in ENROPE!!!

[spiritboy]

Tell Him is a fantastic song.

I love Barbra when she sings musicals. She's definitely an icon of her own.

[Spartan]

It's reported that Barbra will record a duet album,may be with Rihanna,adele!!!!!

I sincerely hope that's a joke.

[Skoolio]

I don't know how this woman became the legend that she is. I only heard one song by her, "Woman In Love".