, Bacharach had written 70 Top 40 hits in the US, and 52 Top 40 hits in the UK.

Biography

Origins

Early songwriting work

In the early 1960s, Bacharach wrote well over 100 songs with David. The two were associated throughout the '60s with Dionne Warwick, a conservatory-trained vocalist. Bacharach and David started writing a portion of their work with Warwick in mind, leading to one of the most successful teams in popular music history.

Over a 20-year period, beginning in the early 1960s, Warwick charted 38 singles co-written or produced by Bacharach and David, including 22 Top-40, 12 Top-20, and nine Top-10 hits on the American Billboard Hot 100 charts. During the early '60s, Bacharach also collaborated with Bob Hilliard on a number of songs, including "Please Stay" and "Mexican Divorce" for The Drifters, "Any Day Now" for Chuck Jackson, "Tower of Strength" for Gene McDaniels, and "Dreamin' All the Time" and "Pick Up the Pieces" for Jack Jones.

Other singers of Bacharach songs in the '60s and '70s included Bobby Vinton ("Blue on Blue"); Dusty Springfield ("The Look of Love" from Casino Royale), (a cover of Dionne Warwick's "Wishin' and Hopin); Cilla Black (a cover of Dionne Warwick's "Anyone Who Had A Heart"), Cher ("Alfie"); The Shirelles, The Beatles ("Baby, It's You"); The Carpenters ("(They Long to Be) Close to You"); Aretha Franklin ("I Say a Little Prayer"); Isaac Hayes ("Walk On By", from the ''Hot Buttered Soul'' album); B. J. Thomas ("Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head", "Everybody's Out of Town"); Tom Jones ("What's New, Pussycat?"); Engelbert Humperdinck ("I'm A Better Man"); Sandie Shaw ("(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"); Jack Jones ("Wives and Lovers"); Jackie DeShannon ("What the World Needs Now is Love"); Gene Pitney ("Only Love Can Break a Heart", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "24 Hours From Tulsa" and "True Love Never Runs Smooth"); Herb Alpert, ("This Guy's In Love With You"); Liz Damon's Orient Express ("Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets); Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 ("The Look of Love"); Jerry Butler, the Walker Brothers ("Make It Easy on Yourself"); and the Fifth Dimension ("One Less Bell to Answer").

Bacharach songs were adapted by jazz artists of the time, such as Stan Getz, Cal Tjader and Wes Montgomery. The Bacharach/David composition "My Little Red Book", originally recorded by Manfred Mann for the film ''What's New, Pussycat?'', and promptly covered by Love in 1966, has become a rock standard; however, according to Robin Platts' book "Burt Bacharach and Hal David", the composer did not like Love's version. The title of the song is likely a tongue-in-cheek reference to Mao Zedong's Little Red Book, which was first published by the Communist Party of China in April 1964.

Bacharach composed and arranged the soundtrack of the 1967 film ''Casino Royale,'' which included "The Look of Love", performed by Dusty Springfield, and the title song, an instrumental Top 40 single for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Bacharach and David also collaborated with Broadway producer David Merrick on the 1968 musical ''Promises, Promises'', which yielded two hits, the title tune and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", for Dionne Warwick. The year 1969 marked, perhaps, the most successful Bacharach-David collaboration, the Oscar-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", written for and prominently featured in the acclaimed film ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''.

Style

An example of his distinctive use of changing meter is found in "Promises, Promises" (from his score for the musical of the same name). His style is sometimes also associated with particular instrumental combinations he is assumed to favor or to have favored, including the prominent use of the flugelhorn in such works as "Walk on By", "Nikki", and "Toledo".

1970s and 1980s

In 1973, Bacharach and David were commissioned to score the Ross Hunter-produced revival of the 1937 film, ''Lost Horizon'' for Columbia Pictures. The result was a critical and commercial disaster, and resulted in a flurry of lawsuits between the composer and the lyricist, as well as from Warwick. She reportedly felt abandoned when Bacharach and David refused to work together. Bacharach tried several solo projects (including the 1977 album ''Futures''), but the projects failed to yield hits.

By the early 1980s, Bacharach's marriage to Angie Dickinson had ended, but a new partnership with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager proved rewarding, both commercially and personally. The two married and collaborated on several major hits during the decade, including "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (Christopher Cross), co-written with Cross and Peter Allen; "Heartlight" (Neil Diamond); "Making Love" (Roberta Flack); "On My Own" (Patti LaBelle with Michael McDonald), and perhaps most memorably, "That's What Friends Are For" in 1985, actually the second single which reunited Bacharach and singer Warwick. The profits for the latter song were given to AIDS research. Bacharach's 1980s tunes showed a new sound.

Other artists continued to revive Bacharach's earlier hits, giving them a new audience in the 1980s and 1990s. Examples included Luther Vandross' recording of "A House is Not a Home"; Naked Eyes' 1983 pop hit version of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me", and Ronnie Milsap's 1982 country version of "Any Day Now". Bacharach continued a concert career, appearing at auditoriums throughout the world, often featuring large orchestras as accompaniment. He occasionally joined with Warwick, appearing in sold-out concerts in New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

1990s and beyond

Another star treatment of his compositions was the 2003 album ''Here I Am'' featuring Ronald Isley, revisiting a number of his 1960s compositions, and also the Vandross arrangement of ''A House Is Not a Home''.

Bacharach's 2005 solo album ''At This Time'' saw a departure from past works in that Bacharach penned his own lyrics, some of which dealt with political themes. Guest stars on some tracks included Elvis Costello, Rufus Wainwright, and hip-hop producer Dr. Dre.

On October 24, 2008, Bacharach opened the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse in London, performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra accompanied by guest vocalists Adele, Beth Rowley and Jamie Cullum. The concert was a retrospective look back at his unparalleled six-decade career, including classics such as "Walk On By", "The Look of Love", "I Say a Little Prayer", "What The World Needs Now", "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa" and "Make It Easy On Yourself", featuring Jamie Cullum.

In early 2009 Bacharach worked with Italian soul singer Karima Ammar and produced her debut single ''Come In Ogni Ora''. The song has been heard during the 59th Sanremo Music Festival and also features him playing piano.

Film and television

In 1969, Harry Betts arranged Bacharach's instrumental composition "Nikki" (named for Bacharach's daughter) into a new theme for the ''ABC Movie of the Week'', a TV series which ran on the U.S. network until 1976. The arrangement by Betts is published by MCA Duchess Music Corporation (BMI).

During the 1970s, Bacharach and then-wife Angie Dickinson appeared in several TV commercials for Martini & Rossi beverages, and even penned a short jingle ("Say Yes") for the spots. Bacharach also occasionally appeared on TV/variety shows, such as ''The Merv Griffin Show'', ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', and many others.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Bacharach had cameo roles in Hollywood movies including all three Austin Powers movies. His music is credited as providing inspiration for these movies, partially stemming from Bacharach's score for the 1967 James Bond film ''Casino Royale''. During subsequent Bacharach concert tours, each show would open with a very brief video clip from the movie ''Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'', with Mike Myers (as Austin Powers) uttering "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Burt Bacharach."

Bacharach appeared as a celebrity performer and guest vocal coach for contestants on the television show, "American Idol" during the 2006 season, during which an entire episode was dedicated to his music. In late 2006, Bacharach appeared as the celebrity in a Geico auto insurance commercial, where he sings and plays the piano. He translates the customer's story through song ("I was hit...in the rear!")

In 2008, Bacharach featured in the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse with the BBC Concert Orchestra. He performed similar shows in the same year at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and with the Sydney Symphony.

Legacy and influence

Personal life

Television and film appearances

Discography

Albums

Singles

Broadway works

Other recordings

References

External links

Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:People from Kansas City, Missouri Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Mannes College of Music alumni Category:Music Academy of the West alumni Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees

Category:American people of German-Jewish descent

Vikki Carr (born Florencia Vicenta de Casillas Martinez Cardona; She had two other songs make the US Top 40: 1968's "The Lesson" and 1969's "With Pen in Hand". Around this time, Dean Martin called her "the best girl singer in the business". Carr had 10 singles which made the US pop charts and 13 albums which made the US pop album charts.

In 1968, she taped six specials for London Weekend TV. She appeared on various television programs, such as ABC's ''The Bing Crosby Show'' in the 1964-1965 season. In 1970, she was named "Woman of the Year" by the ''Los Angeles Times''. She guest-hosted ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' in 1973. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981. Carr also achieved the rare feat of singing for five presidents during her career: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton. Ford writes in his autobiography, ''A Time to Heal,'' that when Carr appeared at the White House, she asked the president, "What Mexican dish do you like?" His response: "I like you." He goes on to write that the First Lady was not pleased: "Betty overheard the exchange, and needless to say, she wasn't wild about it."

In the 1980s and 1990s Carr had enormous success in the Latin music world, winning Grammy Awards for Best Mexican-American Performance in 1986 for her album ''Simplemente Mujer''; Best Latin Pop Album in 1992 for ''Cosas del Amor''; and Best Mexican-American Performance in 1995 for ''Recuerdo a Javier Solis''. She also received Grammy nominations for the discs ''Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti'' (1993) and ''Emociones'' (1996). Her numerous Spanish-language hit singles include "Total," "Discúlpame," "Déjame," "Hay Otro en Tu Lugar," "Esos Hombres," "Mala Suerte" and "Cosas del Amor." The latter song spent more than two months at No. 1 on the US Latin charts in 1991, her biggest Spanish-language US hit. Her Spanish-language albums have been certified gold and platinum in Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador.

In recent years, she taped a PBS TV special, ''Vikki Carr: Memories, Memorias'' (1999), in which she performed popular bilingual tunes from the 1940s and 1950s. Her guests were Pepe Aguilar, Arturo Sandoval and Jack Jones. In 2001, she released a bilingual holiday album, ''The Vikki Carr Christmas Album''.

In 2002, she appeared to great acclaim in a Los Angeles production of the Stephen Sondheim musical ''Follies'', which also featured Hal Linden, Patty Duke and Harry Groener. In 2006, Carr made a cameo appearance in a straight-to-video thriller called ''Puerto Vallarta Squeeze.'' In 2008, Carr hosted a PBS TV special, ''Fiesta Mexicana'', which celebrated the music and dance of Mexico. Later that year she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy. She marked the occasion with an appearance on the Latin Grammy telecast in which she performed "Cosas del Amor" with Olga Tañón and Jenni Rivera.

Charitable work

Discography

Albums

Cultural references

In "MoonStruck", starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, upon Loretta Castorini coming home to tell her father that she was engaged to Johnny Cammerieri, Cher's character and her father go up to tell her mother the news. The family has a heated exchange over who shall pay for the wedding. Loretta's father ends the fight by putting on a Vikki Carr record, ending the fight. The mother, Mrs. Castorini, played by Olympia Dukakis alleges that "Now he's going to listen to that Vikki Carr record and he won't touch me," referring to her husband not liking sex after he listens to Vikki Carr.

In "Vanilla Sky", starring Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz, David Ames is given music options from Sofia Serrano: Jeff Buckley or Vikki Carr. He picked both, simultaneously.

References

External links

Category:1941 births Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Cabaret singers Category:Living people Category:American pop singers Category:American female singers Category:Ranchera singers Category:American musicians of Mexican descent Category:American singers Category:People from El Paso, Texas Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Torch singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Awards for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album Category:Liberty Records artists

Barbra Joan Streisand (pronounced ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

She is one of the most commercially and critically successful entertainers in modern entertainment history, with more than 71.5 million albums shipped in the United States and 140 million albums sold worldwide. She is the best-selling female artist on the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) Top Selling Artists list, the only female recording artist in the top ten, and the only artist outside of the rock and roll genre. Along with Frank Sinatra, Cher, and Shirley Jones, she shares the distinction of being awarded an acting Oscar and also recording a number-one single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

According to the RIAA, Streisand holds the record for the most top ten albums of any female recording artist - a total of 31 since 1963. Streisand has the widest span (46 years) between first and latest top ten albums of any female recording artist. With her 2009 album, ''Love Is the Answer'', she became one of the only artists to achieve number-one albums in five consecutive decades. According to the RIAA, she has released 51 Gold albums, 30 Platinum albums, and 13 Multi-Platinum albums in the United States.

Early life

Barbra Streisand became a nightclub singer while in her teens. She wanted to be an actress and appeared in summer stock and in a number of Off-Off-Broadway productions, including ''Driftwood'' (1959), with then-unknown Joan Rivers. (In her autobiography, Rivers wrote that she played a lesbian with a crush on Streisand's character, but this was later denied by the play's author.) ''Driftwood'' ran for only six weeks. When her boyfriend, Barry Dennen, helped her create a club act—first performed at The Lion, a popular gay nightclub in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 1960—she achieved success as a singer. While singing at The Lion for several weeks, she changed her name from Barbara to Barbra. One early appearance outside of New York City was at Enrico Banducci’s hungry i nightclub in San Francisco. In 1961, Streisand appeared at the Town and Country nightclub in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, but her appearance was cut short; the club owner did not appreciate her singing style. Streisand appeared at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit in 1961.

Streisand's first television appearance was on ''The Tonight Show'', then hosted by Jack Paar, in 1961, singing Harold Arlen's "A Sleepin' Bee". Orson Bean, who substituted for Paar that night, had seen the singer perform at a gay bar and booked her for the telecast (Her older brother Sheldon paid NBC for a kinescope film so she could use it in 1961 to promote herself. Decades later the film was preserved through digitizing and is available for viewing on a website). Streisand became a semi-regular on ''PM East/PM West'', a talk/variety series hosted by Mike Wallace, in late 1961. Westinghouse Broadcasting, which aired ''PM East/PM West'' in a select few cities (Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and San Francisco), has since wiped all the videotapes because of the cost of videotape at the time. Audio segments from some episodes are part of the compilation CD ''Just for the Record'', which went platinum in 1991. The singer said on ''60 Minutes'' in 1991 that 30 years earlier Mike Wallace had been "mean" to her on ''PM East/PM West''. He countered that she had been "self-absorbed." ''60 Minutes'' included the audio of Streisand saying to him in 1961, "I like the fact that you are provoking. But don't provoke ''me''."

In 1962, after several appearances on ''PM East/PM West'', Streisand first appeared on Broadway, in the small but star-making role of Miss Marmelstein in the musical ''I Can Get It for You Wholesale''. Her first album, ''The Barbra Streisand Album'', won two Grammy Awards in 1963. Following her success in ''I Can Get It for You Wholesale'', Streisand made several appearances on ''The Tonight Show'' in 1962 and 1963. Topics covered in her interviews with host Johnny Carson included the empire-waisted dresses that she bought wholesale, to her "crazy" reputation at Erasmus Hall High School. As is the case with Mike Wallace, only audio survives from small portions of her telecast conversations with Carson. It was at about this time that Streisand entered into a long and successful professional relationship with Lee Solters and Sheldon Roskin as her publicists with the firm Solters/Roskin (later Solters/Roskin/Friedman).

Streisand returned to Broadway in 1964 with an acclaimed performance as entertainer Fanny Brice in ''Funny Girl'' at the Winter Garden Theatre. The show introduced two of her signature songs, "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade." Because of the play's overnight success she appeared on the cover of ''Time.'' In 1966, she repeated her success with ''Funny Girl'' in London's West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre. From 1965 to 1967 she appeared in her first four solo television specials.

Career

Singing

Beginning with ''My Name Is Barbra'', her early albums were often medley-filled keepsakes of her television specials. Starting in 1969, she began attempting more contemporary material, but like many talented singers of the day, she found herself out of her element with rock. Her vocal talents prevailed, and she gained newfound success with the pop and ballad-oriented Richard Perry-produced album ''Stoney End'' in 1971. The title track, written by Laura Nyro, was a major hit for Streisand.

During the 1970s, she was also highly prominent on the pop charts, with Top 10 recordings such as ''The Way We Were'' (US No. 1), ''Evergreen'' (US No. 1), ''No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)'' (1979, with Donna Summer), which as of 2010 is reportedly still the most commercially successful duet,(US No. 1), ''You Don't Bring Me Flowers'' (with Neil Diamond) (US No. 1) and ''The Main Event'' (US No. 3), some of which came from soundtrack recordings of her films. As the 1970s ended, Streisand was named the most successful female singer in the U.S.—only Elvis Presley and The Beatles had sold more albums. In 1980, she released her best-selling effort to date, the Barry Gibb-produced ''Guilty''. The album contained the hits ''Woman In Love'' (which spent several weeks atop the pop charts in the Fall of 1980), ''Guilty,'' and ''What Kind of Fool.''

After years of largely ignoring Broadway and traditional pop music in favor of more contemporary material, Streisand returned to her musical-theater roots with 1985's ''The Broadway Album'', which was unexpectedly successful, holding the coveted No. 1 Billboard position for three straight weeks, and being certified quadruple platinum. The album featured tunes by Rodgers & Hammerstein, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Stephen Sondheim, who was persuaded to rework some of his songs especially for this recording. ''The Broadway Album'' was met with acclaim, including a Grammy nomination for album of the year and, ultimately, handed Streisand her eighth Grammy as Best Female Vocalist. After releasing the live album ''One Voice'' in 1986, Streisand was set to take another musical journey along the Great White Way in 1988. She recorded several cuts for the album under the direction of Rupert Holmes, including ''On My Own'' (from ''Les Misérables''), a medley of ''How Are Things in Glocca Morra?'' and ''Heather on the Hill'' (from ''Finian's Rainbow'' and ''Brigadoon,'' respectively), ''All I Ask of You'' (from ''Phantom of the Opera''), ''Warm All Over'' (from ''The Most Happy Fella'') and an unusual solo version of ''Make Our Garden Grow'' (from ''Candide''). Streisand was not happy with the direction of the project and it was ultimately scrapped. Only ''Warm All Over'' and a reworked, lite FM-friendly version of ''All I Ask of You'' were ever released, the latter appearing on Streisand's 1988 effort, ''Till I Loved You.'' At the beginning of the 1990s, Streisand started focusing on her film directorial efforts and became almost inactive in the recording studio. In 1991, a four-disc box set, ''Just for the Record'', was released. A compilation spanning Streisand's entire career to date, it featured over 70 tracks of live performances, greatest hits, rarities and previously unreleased material.

The following year, Streisand's concert fundraising events helped propel former President Bill Clinton into the spotlight and into office. Streisand later introduced Clinton at his inauguration in 1993. Streisand's music career, however, was largely on hold. A 1992 appearance at an APLA benefit as well as the aforementioned inaugural performance hinted that Streisand was becoming more receptive to the idea of live performances. A tour was suggested, though Streisand would not immediately commit to it, citing her well-known stage fright as well as security concerns. During this time, Streisand finally returned to the recording studio and released ''Back to Broadway'' in June 1993. The album was not as universally lauded as its predecessor, but it did debut at No. 1 on the pop charts (a rare feat for an artist of Streisand's age, especially given that it relegated Janet Jackson's ''Janet'' to the No. 2 spot). One of the album's highlights was a medley of ''I Have A Love/One Hand, One Heart,'' a duet with Johnny Mathis, who Streisand said is one of her favorite singers.

In 1993, ''New York Times'' music critic Stephen Holden wrote that Streisand "enjoys a cultural status that only one other American entertainer, Frank Sinatra, has achieved in the last half century." In September 1993, Streisand announced her first public concert appearances in 27 years. What began as a two-night New Year's event at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas eventually led to a multi-city tour in the summer of 1994. Tickets to the tour were sold out in under one hour. Streisand also appeared on the covers of major magazines in anticipation of what ''Time magazine'' named "The Music Event of the Century." The tour was one of the biggest all-media merchandise parlays in history. Ticket prices ranged from US$50 to US$1,500 – making Streisand the highest-paid concert performer in history. ''Barbra Streisand: The Concert'' went on to be the top-grossing concert of the year and earned five Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award, while the taped broadcast on HBO is, to date, the highest-rated concert special in HBO's 30-year history. Following the tour's conclusion, Streisand once again kept a low profile musically, instead focusing her efforts on acting and directing duties as well as a burgeoning romance with actor James Brolin.

In 1997, she finally returned to the recording studio, releasing ''Higher Ground,'' a collection of songs of a loosely-inspirational nature which also featured a duet with Celine Dion. The album received generally favorable reviews and, remarkably, once again debuted at No. 1 on the pop charts. Following her marriage to Brolin in 1998, Streisand recorded an album of love songs entitled ''A Love Like Ours'' the following year. Reviews were mixed, with many critics carping about the somewhat syrupy sentiments and overly-lush arrangements; however, it did produce a modest hit for Streisand in the country-tinged ''If You Ever Leave Me,'' a duet with Vince Gill.

On New Year's Eve 1999, Streisand returned to the concert stage, with the highest-grossing single concert in Las Vegas history to date. At the end of the millennium, she was the number-one female singer in the U.S., with at least two No. 1 albums in each decade since she began performing. A two-disc live album of the concert entitled ''Timeless: Live in Concert'' was released in 2000. Streisand performed versions of the "Timeless" concert in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, in early 2000. In advance of four concerts (two each in Los Angeles and New York) in September 2000, Streisand announced she was retiring from paying public concerts. Her performance of the song ''People'' was broadcast on the Internet via America Online.

Streisand's most-recent albums have been ''Christmas Memories'' (2001), a somewhat somber collection of holiday songs (which felt entirely—albeit unintentionally—appropriate in the early post-9/11 days), and ''The Movie Album'' (2003), featuring famous film themes and backed by a large symphony orchestra. ''Guilty Pleasures'' (called ''Guilty Too'' in the UK), a collaboration with Barry Gibb and a sequel to their ''Guilty,'' was released worldwide in 2005.

In February 2006, Streisand recorded the song ''Smile'' alongside Tony Bennett at Streisand's Malibu home. The song is included on Tony Bennett's 80th birthday album, ''Duets.'' In September 2006, the pair filmed a live performance of the song for a special directed by Rob Marshall entitled ''Tony Bennett: An American Classic.'' The special aired on NBC November 21, 2006, and was released on DVD the same day. Streisand's duet with Bennett opened the special. In 2006, Streisand announced her intent to tour again, in an effort to raise money and awareness for multiple issues. After four days of rehearsal at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey, the tour began on October 4 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, continued with a featured stop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, (this was the concert Streisand chose to film for a TV special), and concluded at Staples Center in Los Angeles on November 20, 2006. Special guests Il Divo were interwoven throughout the show. On stage closing night, Streisand hinted that six more concerts may follow on foreign soil. The show was known as ''Streisand: The Tour.''

Streisand's 20-concert tour set box-office records. At the age of 64, well past the prime of most performers, she grossed US$92,457,062 and set house gross records in 14 of the 16 arenas played on the tour. She set the third-place record for her October 9, 2006, show at Madison Square Garden, the first- and second-place records of which are held by her two shows in September 2000. She set the second-place record at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with her December 31, 1999, show being the house record and the highest-grossing concert of all time. This led many people to openly criticize Streisand for price gouging, as many tickets sold for upwards of US$1,000.

A collection of performances culled from different stops on this tour, ''Live in Concert 2006,'' debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, making it Streisand's 29th Top 10 album. In the summer of 2007, Streisand gave concerts for the first time in continental Europe. The first concert took place in Zürich (June 18), then Vienna (June 22), Paris (June 26), Berlin (June 30), Stockholm (July 4, canceled), Manchester (July 10) and Celbridge, near Dublin (July 14), followed by three concerts in London (July 18, 22 and 25), the only European city where Streisand had performed before 2007. Tickets for the London dates cost between £100.00 and GB£1,500.00 and for the Ireland date between €118 and €500. The tour included a 58-piece orchestra.

In February 2008, ''Forbes'' listed Streisand as the No. 2 earning female musician, between June 2006 and June 2007, with earnings of about US$60 million. Although Streisand's range has changed with time and her voice has deepened over the years, her vocal prowess has remained remarkably secure for a singer whose career has endured for nearly half a century. Streisand is a contralto or possibly a mezzo-soprano who has a range consisting of well over two octaves from “low E to a high G and probably a bit more in either direction.” On November 17, 2008, Streisand returned to the studio to begin recording what would be her sixty-third album and it was announced that Diana Krall was producing the album. Streisand is one of the recipients of the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors. On December 7, 2008, she visited the White House as part of the ceremonies.

On April 25, 2009, CBS aired Streisand's latest TV special, ''Streisand: Live In Concert'', highlighting the aforementioned featured stop from her 2006 North American tour, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On September 26, 2009, Streisand performed a one-night-only show at the Village Vanguard in New York City's Greenwich Village. This performance was later released on DVD as ''One Night Only Barbra Streisand and Quartet at The Village Vanguard.'' On September 29, 2009, Streisand and Columbia Records released her newest studio album, ''Love is the Answer.'' produced by Diana Krall. On October 2, 2009, Streisand made her British television performance debut with an interview on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross to promote the album. This album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and registered her biggest weekly sales since 1997, making Streisand the only artist in history to achieve No. 1 albums in five different decades.

On February 1, 2010, Streisand joined over 80 other artists in recording a new version of the 1985 charity single "We Are the World." Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie planned to release the new version to mark the 25th anniversary of its original recording. These plans changed, however, in view of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, and on February 12, the song, now called "We Are the World 25 for Haiti," made its debut as a charity single to support relief aid for the beleaguered island nation.

Streisand was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year on February 11, 2011, two days prior to the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Streisand is one of many singers who uses teleprompters during their live performances. Streisand has defended her choice in using teleprompters to display lyrics and, sometimes, banter.

Acting

During the 1970s, Streisand starred in several screwball comedies, including ''What's Up, Doc?'' (1972) and ''The Main Event'' (1979), both co-starring Ryan O'Neal, and ''For Pete's Sake'' (1974) with Michael Sarrazin. One of her most famous roles during this period was in the drama ''The Way We Were'' (1973) with Robert Redford, for which she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. She earned her second Academy Award for Best Original Song as composer (together with lyricist Paul Williams) for the song "Evergreen", from ''A Star Is Born'' in 1976.

Along with Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier and later Steve McQueen, Streisand formed First Artists Production Company in 1969, so the actors could secure properties and develop movie projects for themselves. Streisand's initial outing with First Artists was ''Up the Sandbox'' (1972).

From a period beginning in 1969 and ending in 1980, Streisand appeared in the annual motion picture exhibitors poll of Top 10 Box Office attractions a total of 10 times, often as the only woman on the list. After the commercially disappointing ''All Night Long'' in 1981, Streisand's film output decreased considerably. She has only acted in six films since.

Streisand produced a number of her own films, setting up Barwood Films in 1972. For ''Yentl'' (1983), she was producer, director, and star, an experience she repeated for ''The Prince of Tides'' (1991) and ''The Mirror Has Two Faces'' (1996). There was controversy when ''Yentl'' received five Academy Award nominations, but none for the major categories of Best Picture, Actress, or Director. ''The Prince of Tides'' received even more Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, but the director was not nominated. Streisand also scripted "Yentl", something she is not always given credit for. According to New York Times Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal in an interview (story begins at minute 16) with Allan Wolper, "the one thing that makes Barbra Streisand crazy is when nobody gives her the credit for having written 'Yentl'."

In 2004, Streisand made a return to film acting, after an eight-year hiatus, in the comedy ''Meet the Fockers'' (a sequel to ''Meet the Parents''), playing opposite Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner and Robert De Niro.

In 2005, Streisand's Barwood Films, Gary Smith, and Sonny Murray purchased the rights to Simon Mawer's book ''Mendel's Dwarf''. In December 2008, she stated that she was considering directing an adaptation of Larry Kramer's play ''The Normal Heart'', a project she has worked on since the mid-1990s In 2009, Andrew Lloyd Webber stated that Streisand was one of several actresses (alongside Meryl Streep and Glenn Close) who were interested in playing the role of Norma Desmond in the film adaptation of Webber's musical version of ''Sunset Boulevard''

In December 2010, Streisand appeared in ''Little Fockers'', the third film from the ''Meet the Parents trilogy''. She reprised the role of Roz Focker alongside Dustin Hoffman.

On 4 January 2011, the ''New York Post'' reported that Streisand was in negotiations to produce, direct, and star in a new film version of ''Gypsy.'' In an interview with the ''New York Post'', Arthur Laurents said: "We've talked about it a lot, and she knows what she's doing. She has my approval." He said that he would not write the screenplay. The following day, the ''New York Times'' reported that Arthur Laurents clarified in a telephonic interview that Streisand would not direct the film "but playing Rose is enough to make her happy." Streisand's spokesperson confirmed that "there have been conversations".

On 28 January 2011, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' announced that Paramount Pictures has given the road-trip comedy, ''My Mother's Curse,'' the green light to begin shooting, with Streisand and Seth Rogen playing mother and son. Anne Fletcher is slated to direct the project with a script by Dan Fogelman. Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn will produce it with Evan Goldberg. Executive producers include Streisand, Rogen, Fogelman, and David Ellison, whose Skydance will co-finance the pic. Shooting began in spring of 2011 and wrapped in July. In August the Internet Movie Database began listing the film with the new title ''Guilt Trip''. The film is set for a November 2012 release (originally it was slated to release in March 2012).

Personal life

Marriages and family

Jon Peters' daughters, Caleigh Peters and Skye Peters, are her goddaughters.

Streisand shares a birthday with Shirley MacLaine, and they celebrate together every year.

Name

Politics

In 1971, Streisand was one of the celebrities listed on President Richard Nixon's infamous Enemies List.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Streisand donated $1 million to the William J. Clinton Foundation in support of former President Bill Clinton’s climate change initiative.

In 2008, Streisand gifted $5 million to endow the Barbra Streisand Women's Cardiovascular Research and Education Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Women's Heart Center. In September that year, ''Parade'' magazine included Streisand on their Giving Back Fund's second annual Giving Back 30 survey, "a ranking of the celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity in 2007 according to public records", as the third most generous celebrity. The Giving Back Fund claimed Streisand donated $11 million, which The Streisand Foundation distributed.

At Julien’s Auctions in October 2009, Streisand, a long-time collector of art and furniture, sold 526 items with all the proceeds going to her foundation. Items included a costume from ''Funny Lady'' and a vintage dental cabinet purchased by the performer at 18 years old. The sale’s most valuable lot was a painting by Kees van Dongen.

References in popular culture

On television