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November 2, 2014 | Gold & Platinum

Columbia Records News: Barbra Streisand Goes Gold for Groundbreaking 52nd Time with "Partners"

(Columbia Records; New York, NY – November 7, 2014) The Recording Industry Association of America has certified Barbra Streisand’s album “Partners” as gold, with over 500,000 sold. This is the 52nd gold in Streisand’s career and the most for any female recording artist in RIAA’s history.

“Barbra is the most recognized female in the history of Gold & Platinum album awards,” said Cary Sherman, Chairman & CEO, RIAA. “What an incredible feat. It’s no surprise that she’s returning to the top of the charts and earned yet another Gold album. We congratulate Barbra on her continued extraordinary success.”

Ms. Streisand also has thirty platinum and thirteen multi-platinum albums in her career, including ten number ones: “People,” “The Way We Were,” “A Star is Born,” “Guilty,” “The Broadway Album,” “Greatest Hits Volume 2,” “Back to Broadway,” “Higher Ground,” “Love is the Answer” and “Partners.”

With the release of “Partners,” which entered the Billboard 200 chart at number one, Ms. Streisand is the only recording artist in history to have a number one release in six consecutive decades. With ten, Ms. Streisand is the female artist with the most number one albums in Billboard’s history. She is also the best-selling female recording artist in history, with over 72 million albums sold. Ms. Streisand is the only female to make the All-Time Top 10 Best Selling Artists list, an honor which includes fellow duet “Partners” Elvis Presley and Billy Joel. She also has the longest span of number one albums in history; just under 50 years. (She first landed at the top of the chart in October 1964 with “People.” “Partners” is Ms. Streisand’s 33rd album to make it into the Top 10 on the US charts. She is the only female artist to have achieved this milestone, tying her with Frank Sinatra.)

Recognized as an icon in multiple entertainment fields, Ms. Streisand has attained unprecedented achievements as a recording artist, actor of stage and screen, concert performer, movie producer, film director, author, songwriter and philanthropist. In her accomplished career she has been awarded two Oscars, five Emmys, ten Golden Globes, eight Grammys plus two special Grammys; a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Grammy Legend Award, a special Tony award in 1970 as Star of the Decade, and two Cable Ace awards – the only artist to receive honors in all of those fields of endeavor. Ms. Streisand is the recipient of the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Endowment for the Arts Medal, two Peabody Awards and the French Légion d’honneur. Ms. Streisand is also the first female film director to receive the Kennedy Center Honors.

The musical pairings on “Partners” include, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Babyface, Jason Gould, Josh Groban, Billy Joel, John Legend, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Blake Shelton, Stevie Wonder and a breathtaking virtual duet with the King of rock ‘n’ roll, Elvis Presley. The new album, which is Executive Produced by Ms. Streisand and Jay Landers, is produced by Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds and Walter Afanasieff.

“Partners” is comprised of 12 songs, many of which are regarded as Streisand classics. Among the songs included are “New York State Of Mind,” with Billy Joel, “It Had To Be You,” with Michael Bublé, “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” with John Mayer, “Love Me Tender,” with Elvis Presley, “The Way We Were,” with Lionel Richie, “What Kind Of Fool,” with John Legend, “People,” with Stevie Wonder, “I Still Can See Your Face,” with Andrea Bocelli, “Evergreen,” with Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, and Ms. Streisand’s first studio-recorded duet with her son Jason Gould, on “How Deep Is The Ocean.”