No, for the most part. Streisand built her career as an interpreter of material written by others rather than as a songwriter. Her Columbia Records contract secured her the right to choose her own songs, but the writing was done by outside composers and lyricists. Her rare writing credit is as co-composer of 'Evergreen' from A Star Is Born, for which she wrote the melody, along with a handful of later co-writes.
By the Numbers
14
Studio Albums
156
Tracks Credited
4%
Self-Written
over 150 million
Records Sold
66
Years Active
229
Collaborators
Authorship Breakdown 7 / 156 self-written
Who wrote the songs?
Across all 156 tracks: how many Barbra Streisand wrote alone, how many they co-wrote, and how many were written by others. The bracket marks every track they hold any writing credit on.
Barbra Streisand has a writing credit4%
4%
96%
Sole author0tracks0%
Co-written7tracks4%
Outside writers149tracks96%
Role Fingerprint how they contribute
Barbra Streisand's roles across the catalogue
Share of all 156 tracks where they are personally credited, by role.
Lyricist (words)3%
Composer (music)4%
Producer29%
Performer100%
Authorship Over Time writing credit per album
Barbra Streisand's writing credit per album, in release order. Hover any bar for the album.
avg 4%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
20%
0%
9%
0%
0%
0%
8%
27%
1963The Barbra Streisand Album
1964People
1965My Name Is Barbra
1974The Way We Were
1974ButterFly
1980Guilty
1984Emotion
1985The Broadway Album
1988Till I Loved You
1993Back to Broadway
1997Higher Ground
1999A Love Like Ours
2014Partners
2018Walls
Early · 0% written
Mid · 6% written
Late · 9% written
Authorship by Decade track-weighted
0%
1960s
The Barbra Streisand Album, People +1 more
0%
1970s
The Way We Were, ButterFly
7%
1980s
Guilty, Emotion +2 more
0%
1990s
Back to Broadway, Higher Ground +1 more
17%
2010s
Partners, Walls
Authorship Spectrum pure performer to complete author
Where Barbra Streisand sits on the scale from a pure performer (0%, sings songs written by others) to a complete author (100%, writes everything). The bright marker is their catalogue authorship score, plotted against other artists on the site.
Barbra Streisand
Other artists on the site
Reference artists spread across the scale, closest by genre and era.
Written by Jacques Charles, Channing Pollock, Albert Willemetz, Maurice Yvain
Outside writers
The Way We Were
The Way We Were
Written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch
Outside writers
All in Love Is Fair
The Way We Were
Written by Stevie Wonder
Outside writers
Woman in Love
Guilty
Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Barry Alan Gibb, Robin Hugh Gibb
Outside writers
Guilty
Guilty
Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Barry Alan Gibb, Robin Hugh Gibb, Maurice Ernest Gibb
Outside writers
What Kind of Fool
Guilty
Written by Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten, Barry Alan Gibb
Outside writers
Promises
Guilty
Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Barry Alan Gibb, Robin Hugh Gibb
Outside writers
Left in the Dark
Emotion
Written by Jim Steinman
Outside writers
Make No Mistake, He's Mine
Emotion
Written by Kim Carnes
Outside writers
Emotion
Emotion
Written by Peter Bliss
Outside writers
Somewhere
The Broadway Album
Written by Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein
Outside writers
Send in the Clowns
The Broadway Album
Written by Stephen Sondheim
Outside writers
Till I Loved You
Till I Loved You
Written by Maury Yeston
Outside writers
Tell Him
Higher Ground
Written by Walter Afanasieff, David Foster, Linda Thompson
Outside writers
I've Dreamed of You
A Love Like Ours
Written by Ann Hampton Callaway, Rolf Løvland
Outside writers
If You Ever Leave Me
A Love Like Ours
Written by Richard Marx
Outside writers
None of the signature songs above fall in this category.
Discography 14 albums
Covers 14 of Barbra Streisand's roughly 37 studio albums, chosen to span every era and her commercial and authorship landmarks: her Grammy-winning 1963 debut, People, The Way We Were, her best-seller Guilty, the Grammy-winning Broadway Album, her run of number-one comebacks (Back to Broadway, Higher Ground), the duets album Partners, and the self-co-written Walls. The remaining studio albums, mostly 1960s and 1970s standards collections and later covers records with very low self-authorship, are not yet added and are tracked in TODO.md.
Bubble size = tracks worked on together. Showing the 150 most frequent of 227. RM Robert Mersey · AB Alan Bergman · MB Marilyn Bergman · MB Mike Berniker
The Authorship Story
Data Insight
Barbra Streisand's catalog is one of the purest interpreter's stories on the site. Across nearly every album her name is absent from the writing credits: the songs come from the Broadway and Tin Pan Alley canon (Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, the Gershwins, Jule Styne), from her longtime lyric collaborators Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and from commissioned pop writers. The clearest example is Guilty, her best-seller, where Barry Gibb wrote and produced every track. The rare cracks in the pattern are worth watching: she composed the music for 'Evergreen' and 'Two People,' co-wrote two songs on Emotion, and, most notably, took a co-writing credit on three tracks of her 2018 political album Walls. Her authorship score reflects a singer who spent six decades performing songs written by others, with only a handful of her own credits scattered across the run.
Quick Facts
Six decades at number oneThe only recording artist with a number-one album on the Billboard 200 in each of six consecutive decades.
Most number-one albums by a womanThe first woman to score 11 number-one albums on the Billboard 200.
Grammy Album of the Year at her debutThe Barbra Streisand Album won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1964.
Two OscarsWon Best Actress for Funny Girl in 1968 and Best Original Song as co-writer of 'Evergreen' in 1977.
Best-seller written by Barry GibbGuilty (1980), her biggest-selling album at over 15 million copies, was written and produced by Barry Gibb.
RIAA certificationsCertified for 68.5 million album units in the US, among the highest of any female artist.
Creative Fingerprint
She is one of the great interpreters rather than a songwriter, and almost never wrote her own material; her catalog is standards, show tunes, and outside-written pop, with her best-seller Guilty written entirely by Barry Gibb.
The Story
Barbra Streisand is an American singer and actress who became one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with a career of nearly 40 studio albums stretching from 1963 to the present. She is one of the great interpreters in popular music rather than a songwriter, and for most of her career she wrote none of her own material, choosing instead standards, Broadway show tunes, and songs commissioned from professional writers. Her Columbia Records contract famously gave her the rare right to pick her own songs, and she used it to build a catalog of other people's compositions sung in her singular voice. She is the only recording artist to score a number-one album in each of six consecutive decades, and her best-selling record, the 1980 album Guilty, was written and produced entirely by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. Her one true songwriting credit as a composer, the Oscar-winning 'Evergreen,' is the exception in a body of work defined by interpretation.
Awards & Recognition
Grammy Award for Album of the Year, The Barbra Streisand Album (1964)
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Grammy Legend Award
Academy Award for Best Actress, Funny Girl (1968)
Academy Award for Best Original Song as co-writer of 'Evergreen', A Star Is Born (1977)
Special 'Star of the Decade' Tony Award (1970)
Five Emmy Awards
Frequently Asked Questions Barbra Streisand
Did Barbra Streisand write her own songs?
No, for the most part. Streisand built her career as an interpreter of material written by others rather than as a songwriter. Her Columbia Records contract secured her the right to choose her own songs, but the writing was done by outside composers and lyricists. Her rare writing credit is as co-composer of 'Evergreen' from A Star Is Born, for which she wrote the melody, along with a handful of later co-writes.
Who wrote 'Woman in Love'?
'Woman in Love' was written by Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. It appeared on Streisand's 1980 album Guilty, which Barry Gibb wrote and produced after she asked him to make an album for her. The single reached number one in the US and is considered her biggest international hit.
Who wrote 'The Way We Were'?
'The Way We Were' was composed by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman. It was the title song of Streisand's 1973 film and album. Hamlisch and the Bergmans won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the recording also won the Grammy for Song of the Year.
How many albums did Barbra Streisand release?
Her discography lists 37 studio albums, along with live albums, compilations, and soundtracks. Almost all were released through Columbia Records across a career that began in 1963.
What is Barbra Streisand's best-selling album?
Guilty (1980) is her biggest-selling album, with over 15 million copies sold worldwide. It was written and produced by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and spawned the hits 'Woman in Love,' 'Guilty,' and 'What Kind of Fool.'
How many records has Barbra Streisand sold?
She is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with career sales estimated well over 150 million records. The RIAA certifies her at 68.5 million album units in the United States, among the highest of any female artist.
Did Barbra Streisand ever write a hit song?
Yes, one. She composed the music for 'Evergreen,' the love theme from the 1976 film A Star Is Born, with lyrics by Paul Williams. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and made her the first woman honored by the Academy as a composer.
What records does Barbra Streisand hold for number-one albums?
She was the first woman to score 11 number-one albums on the Billboard 200. She is also the only recording artist to have topped the chart in six consecutive decades, a run confirmed when Partners reached number one in 2014.
Who wrote the songs on Guilty?
The entire Guilty album (1980) was written and produced by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, with contributions from his brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb and producer Albhy Galuten on several tracks. Streisand performed the songs but did not write them, which is typical of her role as an interpreter.
Did Barbra Streisand write more of her own material later in her career?
A little. On her 2018 political album Walls she co-wrote three of the eleven tracks, including 'Don't Lie to Me' and 'The Rain Will Fall,' a rare turn toward songwriting after decades of interpreting other people's work.
Barbra Streisand
