Barbra Streisand once sang the song "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?," a lovely song about love and relationships. As a singer, Barbra Streisand knows exactly how to keep the music playing for her legion of fans and admirers'just continue producing high-quality albums like her current hit, "What Matters Most: Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman."
Streisand's new album has debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, competing with the likes of hip-hop artist The Game, rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, and blues singer Adele. Barbra's Billboard showing is a record-setter: she now has place 31 albums in the Top 10, surpassing The Beatles who have had 30 albums in the Top 10. Only Frank Sinatra and the Rolling Stones have had more Top 10 albums.
But that's not all. With "What Matters Most," Streisand becomes the first solo artist to earn a Top 5 debut in six different decades. The new album's ranking also extends Barbra's lead over all female artists and acts in number of Top Tens. All of this is a testament to Barbra's remarkable legacy as an artist who has endured the changing tastes of music to deliver her music in her inimitable style.
The Streisand body of work remains a hallmark to other artists in how to set the bar high and continue to reach it every time you go into the recording studio. Reviews for her latest album have been overwhelmingly positive, and it comes on the heels of her previous studio album reaching #1 on the Billboard chart and garnering her another Grammy nomination.
Just for the record, she has 41 Grammy nominations to her credit. If "What Matters Most" snags another -- and it should! -- it will be #42, which is a variation on 24, Barbra's lucky number. Of course, the really lucky people are those of us who've gotten our hands on "What Matters Most."
Streisand delivers again, and as the lyricists, Alan and Bergman observed in a recent interview about this album, "When she does our songs, she finds things that always surprise us. She deepens them. She gets all the nuances, everything, so it's thrilling. 'Her instincts about music and about herself are amazing, they're just terrific."
