THE TOP ALL-TIME ALBUM-SELLING FEMME ARTIST BEATS OUT POWERFUL FIELD WITH HER 3RD ALBUM TO DEBUT ATOP THE BILLBOARD CHARTS

Setting numerous records that may never be exceeded, the recording field’s all-time top album-selling female artist Barbra Streisand exceeded a powerful field of debut albums to win #1 on the latest Billboard charts with her Love Is The Answer released by Columbia Records. Although no other artist has matched her prior record of four straight decades at #1, the new achievement may be a bar that can ever be equaled.

Her ninth #1 [and her third record to debut at #1] did so with sale of over 180,000 albums. Some were single disc CDs with full orchestral accompaniment under the baton of Johnny Mandel , while others were double disc sets combining the big orchestra disc with one in which the songs are sung only with the backing of Diana Krall’s quartet.

Among the other distinctions the victory achieves is that it brings Ms. Streisand into a tie with The Beatles for most albums reaching top ten chart status. They follow the Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra . Her latest trip to top-of-the charts also extends her previous record of longest period between first and most recent #1 rankings from 33 years to 45 years.

Her other number one albums include People (1964), The Way We Were (1974), A Star Is Born (1976), Barbra Streisand’s Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (1978), Guilty (1980), The Broadway Album (1985), Back To Broadway (1993) and Higher Ground (1997).

The press writes of Love Is The Answer:

“Ms. Streisand sings as if she is speaking to you.Ms. Streisand can turn the right song into a sung-through dramatic soliloquy, as in several works on Love Is the Answer, especially ‘Where Do You Start?,'” – New York Times

“Streisand’s voice stands without filters. And what a wonderous voice it remains.the way she swings between those notes that rivets. It’s here, in the adventure of her phrasing, that Streisand shows her awareness of jazz.The conversational way she moves through these songs allows Streisand to find quirks of meaning in the lyrics her younger self never could, while showcasing a vocal approach as musicianly as it is magical.” – New York Daily News

“Barbra Streisand remains reassuringly constant. She is a genius, an original, and still the greatest star. By far.” – Liz Smith

“Sounding warmer and the most at home with her recordings since the mid-seventies, the 67-year-old vocalist-supreme at last reclaims the musical territory she reigned over in the sixties. Love Is The Answer is the latest portal into the soul of a woman celebrating her golden years with an album so beautiful, it’s easily one of the best she’s ever recorded. Make that one of the best albums of its kind that she or any of her contemporaries have recorded in decades.” – Huffington Post