Barbra Streisand

Want to start a heated debate at any party? Just mention the name Barbra
Streisand. an amazingly gifted vocalist who doesn’t always know when to quit, “Babs”
is one of the few classic pop singers to come of age in the post-Elvis era.
already a great singer, Broadway propelled her to stardom and a highly
successful recording career. alas, the girl who dazzled the nation with her
heartbreakingly sad take on “Happy Days are Here again” (from her 1963 debut)
grew up to be the hurricane that spawned such bombastic storms as Celine Dion
and Mariah Carey. Meanwhile, the streetwise Brooklynite who flirtatiously ate a
carrot like Bugs Bunny in What’s Up Doc aged into the auteur who gave a
supporting role to her fingernails in The Prince of Tides. If the cool
mod chick with the purest pipes since Ella Fitzgerald evolved into an “artiste”
with a questionable perm, at least Babs has always followed her own path. She
remains an american institution who has won Oscars, Grammies, and countless
Emmys and has also become a subcultural icon. Streisand was championed in the
1960s as the first female sex symbol with a shnozola and is now feted by the gay
community.

- Nick Dedina