Latest news with #VolumeTwo
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Barbra Streisand loves being with grandchildren
Barbra Streisand finds it "joyous" to be with her grandchildren. The 83-year-old actress - whose stepson Josh Brolin is dad to Trevor, 37, Eden, 32, Westlyn, six, and four-year-old Chapel and stepdaughter has three-year-old Soli - admitted her latest album, 'The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two', was inspired by the pleasure she takes in being surrounded by family. Barbra - who has son Jason, 58, with ex-husband Elliott Gould and is married to James Brolin - told People magazine:"I had asked my daughter-in-law, who's also a photographer, to bring the children over and take some pictures with me. The kids were walking toward me, and I was standing behind a screen door, and I said, 'Oh Kathryn, take this picture right now.' "The point is, the feeling whenever they're here is just joyous. It's very, very special... "It's wonderful to have family. And that's how The Secret of Life title came — [the secret] is several things, but one of them is family," The album is Barbra's first in almost seven years, and features duets with the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Tim McGraw, but the Funny Girl star admitted she wasn't sure she was up to recording after the extensive process of recording the audiobook version of her memoir xx left her "hoarse". She said: "I hadn't sung in a long time so I didn't know if I had a voice left." But Barbra has no plans to give up her career and she still particularly loves recording new music. She said: "As long as I have a voice, I love the privacy of recording. "I love standing there in front of the mic with the music in my ears and singing, and there are more songs I want to sing. And I even have my original list of songs I've wanted to sing [since I was 18 years old]." Barbra began her career when she was 13 years old and she'd advise her younger self to trust her instincts. Asked what she'd have told her younger self, she said: "I'd tell her, 'Believe in yourself, believe in your choices. Believe in what you hear, what you feel.' I did it instinctively."
USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Barbra Streisand swoons with McCartney, Dylan, Mariah on lush duets album: Review
The woman who served us 'People,' 'Evergreen,' 'The Way We Were' and more than 100 other singles doesn't need to record another album. She barely needs to leave her surely-gardenia-scented bedroom. But Barbra Streisand, 83, has always been not just indefatigable, but interested: In creating, in songcraft and in pushing herself. After 60-plus years in show business, she's earned the right to drop the New York hustle ingrained in her DNA and take a breath. Her 37th studio album, 'The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two,' is that breath. It's a cozy, comforting audible hug from a parade of familiar friends, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Josh Groban, Sting, Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey. Even Bob Dylan hopped aboard this love train. Streisand's new duets release is the companion to 2014's 'Partners,' with Groban as her only repeat collaborator. While her voice is still that voice – rich in timbre, sleek in tone – she's chosen to share the microphone again because it's a comfort zone. Some of Streisand's finest work has been bolstered by worthy peers, from Barry Gibb ('Guilty' in 1980) to Neil Diamond ('You Don't Bring Me Flowers' in 1978) to Celine Dion ('Tell Him' in 1997). Not so much Don Johnson ('Till I Loved You' in 1988). Continuing her stretch with these 11 cross-generational songs, including a pair of newbies – one with Sam Smith ('To Lose You Again') and the other with Grande and Carey ('One Heart, One Voice') to complete a diva triumvirate – Streisand soars. Highlights are many, but here are a few. More: New music documentaries rock the big screen at Tribeca 'Letter to My 13 Year Old Self' (Laufey) The young Icelandic jazz-pop singer Laufey spoke to Streisand's inner awkward teenager with this heart-piercing ballad from her 2023 album, 'Bewitched.' This lusher recording, laden with plucked strings and two creamy voices blending seamlessly, is more than a deeply affecting ballad with lyrics such as, 'You'll grow up and grow so tough/charm them/write your story/fall in love a little too/the things you thought you'd never do.' It's a poignant look back at how the trivial things that felt like an emotional avalanche as a teen shape us, as well as the importance of taking pride in shutting out the noise. 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' (Hozier) Popularized by the late Roberta Flack, this cooing ballad can sound plodding and endless with the wrong arrangement. But over a blanket of velvety strings, Streisand turns Irish indie-rocker Hozier into a smitten Romeo. Their pacing is like a dance, dipping and rising while always staying within the lines for four and a half minutes of lyrical seduction. 'My Valentine' (Paul McCartney) In its native form, this 2012 Paul McCartney song written for wife Nancy Shevell drifts along on gentle piano and guitar, McCartney's voice authentically imperfect. With Streisand, it's evident how he strives to meet her note for note, breath for breath, as strings swell in the pockets of the lyrics. It's easily McCartney's sweetest vocal since his 'Flowers in the Dirt' days. 'The Very Thought of You' (Bob Dylan) A duet in the making since 1970 between the shy poet laureate of contemporary music and the preeminent songbird of the past six decades doesn't disappoint, primarily because Streisand coaxed Dylan to actually sing. Streisand has said it was his choice to record Ray Noble's 1934 pop standard, and it's a style that suits him as he sings softly with only a hint of his distinctive nasal twang. They seem like the most incongruous pairing, but both hail from the same Greenwich Village haunts, tethered at the core for life. More: Bruce Springsteen is releasing his 'Lost Albums': The songs you haven't heard but need to 'One Heart, One Voice' (Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande) Much as when Streisand teamed with Celine Dion for the vocal duel 'Tell Him,' this seemed like another opportunity to play 'who can run the vocal scales the longest.' Instead, this otherwise generic ballad that preaches the merits of rejoicing in partnership, love guiding the way and sacred gardens with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, showcases a trio steeped in restraint. Grande and Carey sing with delicacy, while Streisand augments their shared vocals with her own resonant tone. They're the holy trinity of glorious sound.
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Barbra Streisand pushed her voice to the limit recording audiobook for her memoir
Barbra Streisand's voice was "hoarse" after she recorded the audiobook for her memoir My Name Is Barbra. The 83-year-old star admits that she put her vocals under extreme strain as she recorded the audio version of her 970-page-long autobiography shortly after working on her latest album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two. Barbra told People magazine: "All the wonderful people that I was going to sing with wanted to sing with me. And they were all so special and I hadn't sung in a very long time. "I didn't know if I had a voice left because after I did that, Jesus, six weeks, six days a week, five hours a day of talking, speaking into a microphone for the book. So I was hoarse." Streisand's latest record is released on Friday (27.06.25) - featuring duets with music titans including Sir Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan - and the legendary singer and actress has vowed to continue making music for as long as her voice permits. The Woman in Love artist said: "As long as I have a voice, I love the privacy of recording. "I love standing there in front of the mic with the music in my ears and singing, and there are more songs I want to sing. And I even have my original list of songs I wanted to sing." Barbra duets with the jazz-pop star Laufey on the song Letter to My 13 Year Old Self and reflected on how she "instinctively" improvised during her musical performances at that age. The Funny Girl actress explained: "The first time you're a teenager, you've moved ahead to another level. Believe in yourself, believe in your choices. Believe in what you hear, what you feel. "I mean, I did it instinctively. You know what I mean? I don't know why I did it. And it's the first time I ever did an improvisation even. I was standing in front of the mic at 13 and what I rehearsed with the guys, the piano player, I did something else. "And I thought, where did that come from? Where did improvisation? Where did I... I don't know. It came out and I liked it. I went, 'Oh, that's interesting.'"
Leader Live
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Paul McCartney was ‘pretty terrified' to work with Barbra Streisand on new duet
The Beatles star, 82, recorded a version of his track, My Valentine, with Streisand for her new album, The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume Two. Speaking about the session, he said in a website post: '(It was) nerve-wracking. Nail-biting! I did the session with her in LA and I was pretty terrified. A post shared by Barbra Streisand (@barbrastreisand) 'I think the session was about three hours, you know, a normal kind of session, and it was produced by my friend Peter Asher. 'But it started off with a big 40-piece orchestra on the Sony lot, which is one of the old Hollywood film studios; it's very impressive. And we were on 'The Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage', so no pressure there! 'I thought, 'Well, this will be easy because it's my song, it's My Valentine. What can go wrong?' But what I'd forgotten was that they'd arranged it so that it had to go in Barbra's key and then in my key. 'So, to get from Barbra's key into mine was kind of difficult, and I had to launch in not knowing what key I was in. Mine was lower, hers was higher. It wasn't easy at all!' He added: 'I thought if Barbra is going to do my song, I've got to encourage that. And she was great. 'I didn't realise how rounded she is, creatively. They were filming the session and as soon as we went in, she said, 'Who put that camera there? That shouldn't be there, bring it over here. And what about those lights?' I thought, 'Wow, you're directing it!' 'But then I suddenly remembered she's directed three big movies. She's a smart cookie.' Ahead of the song's release last Friday, the Funny Girl star, 83, said in an Instagram post: 'What a joy it was to record 'My Valentine' with @paulmccartney. To share time with him in the studio was truly special!' The album, set for release on June 27, acts as a sequel to her Grammy-nominated record Partners from 2014. My Valentine, which has been covered by Canadian singer Michael Buble, featured on Sir Paul's 2012 album Kisses On The Bottom.
South Wales Guardian
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Paul McCartney was ‘pretty terrified' to work with Barbra Streisand on new duet
The Beatles star, 82, recorded a version of his track, My Valentine, with Streisand for her new album, The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume Two. Speaking about the session, he said in a website post: '(It was) nerve-wracking. Nail-biting! I did the session with her in LA and I was pretty terrified. A post shared by Barbra Streisand (@barbrastreisand) 'I think the session was about three hours, you know, a normal kind of session, and it was produced by my friend Peter Asher. 'But it started off with a big 40-piece orchestra on the Sony lot, which is one of the old Hollywood film studios; it's very impressive. And we were on 'The Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage', so no pressure there! 'I thought, 'Well, this will be easy because it's my song, it's My Valentine. What can go wrong?' But what I'd forgotten was that they'd arranged it so that it had to go in Barbra's key and then in my key. 'So, to get from Barbra's key into mine was kind of difficult, and I had to launch in not knowing what key I was in. Mine was lower, hers was higher. It wasn't easy at all!' He added: 'I thought if Barbra is going to do my song, I've got to encourage that. And she was great. 'I didn't realise how rounded she is, creatively. They were filming the session and as soon as we went in, she said, 'Who put that camera there? That shouldn't be there, bring it over here. And what about those lights?' I thought, 'Wow, you're directing it!' 'But then I suddenly remembered she's directed three big movies. She's a smart cookie.' Ahead of the song's release last Friday, the Funny Girl star, 83, said in an Instagram post: 'What a joy it was to record 'My Valentine' with @paulmccartney. To share time with him in the studio was truly special!' The album, set for release on June 27, acts as a sequel to her Grammy-nominated record Partners from 2014. My Valentine, which has been covered by Canadian singer Michael Buble, featured on Sir Paul's 2012 album Kisses On The Bottom.
