-My first guest is a global icon
who has won every award imaginable.
She's the only artist ever to have a number one album
in six consecutive decades.
[ Audience murmurs ]
Her latest album, "Release Me 2,"
is available now.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Barbra Streisand!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!
Come on! Mwah! Mwah! We love you!
Oh, thank you! -Hi, everybody.
-I know. I'm sorry. I'm too excited.
Thank you so much for coming back to the show.
-Oh, it's my pleasure.
'Cause you're always fun to talk to.
-[ Laughs ] Thank you. You too.
We have so much to talk about.
First of all, I want to say congratulations
on your anniversary -- 25 years together
with your husband James Brolin.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Not too shabby.
-Yeah, not to shabby is right.
-Yeah, did you know right off the bat that he was the one?
-Right off the bat -- Well, he told me he knew.
You know, we were set up as a blind date.
And I was so shy that I came into the house,
and I went downstairs to be with the children,
you know, play with them
until I had to sit down at the table.
And, you know, I expected a guy
with a brown beard and a brown hair --
wavy hair, like a mountain man.
And I saw a guy that had all his hair cut off, no beard,
and I walked by him,
I put my hand through his hair and said,
"Who [bleep] up your hair?"
[ Laughter ]
So, anyway, no, it took me a few hours --
No, a few days. A few days.
-That's fantastic.
And then, obviously, you guys hit it off.
25 years.
And here's a little granddaughter here
that's very excited about your new album.
Look at this. Come on. [ Audience "Awws" ]
Look at that beautiful baby.
-Oh, my God. Well, her mom gave her the album to look at Gammaw.
You know?
The older one who is not even 3 calls me "Gammaw."
-Did you choose Gammaw,
or she just ended up at Gammaw?
Because my mother, when I had our first child,
I said -- she goes, "There's no way
you're gonna call me 'Grandma.'"
[ Laughter ] -That's right.
Most women say, "I don't want to sound like a grandma
'cause it sounds like I'm too old,"
but I love it.
I think it's a great gift.
I mean, I've lived, you know, a long life.
I've done a lot of things,
but I've never been a gammaw.
-[ Laughs ] That's right.
That's right.
[ Applause ]
What a beautiful kid.
"Release Me 2"
is unreleased songs throughout your whole career.
I freaked out. I listened to it today.
By the way,
I love the packaging on this. -Oh, good.
-You always do something different,
always something cool.
So look at this.
This is the whole kind of way it works.
Every different place that you can pick up the album --
This is like Target. You can get this one.
This one, you get online on your website.
Or that's this one. Then this one --
This one's for independent record stores.
-This one is -- -That's right.
-I mean, Barnes and Noble. This is genius.
-Well, because I love things that are off color,
in more ways than one.
So these are not primary colors.
They're colors that I love.
And, you know, it took a long time.
I mean, looking through
a hundred Pantone swatches, you know?
-Yeah.
-But I think it came out swell.
-It came out better than swell.
In fact, I even got a little swag with my album.
I don't know if you can see here. Can we zoom in?
-Oh, let's see what you're wearing.
Oh! [ Laughs ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
Oh, that's so cute. Thank you.
-[ Chuckles ] And then not only --
Well, I want to talk about the album,
but not only did you come up with the vinyls,
but also on cassette, which I love.
No one does this. Why cassette?
-You know why?
Because I still have my old Sony cassette player
that I've had for, I don't know, 30, 40 years.
And I love to record on it because it's so simple --
play, forward, backward, that's it.
The new stuff is so complicated.
And I don't think it's better sound.
The old sound, the analog sound was so great,
and I still have it.
-I love that you did that.
I was listening today because I wanted --
I knew I had you on the show tonight.
These are some songs from 1971.
You have a song from 1968.
I do love personally "Rainbow Connection"
with Kermit the Frog.
You do a duet with Kermit the Frog.
Two legends. I mean, come on.
But I love that.
-That's why my A&R said,
"You recorded with Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra
and all these people, and modern people, too --
Jamie Foxx, John Mayer."
He said, "But you've never sang with a frog."
[ Laughter ]
-Yes. That's exactly right. -Who is ageless.
He said, "Ageless and evergreen."
So it was really done for my "Wet" album,
and yet, you know, it was too --
The "Wet" album was more romantic songs, more sexy.
And it wasn't right for Kermit until now.
-Yeah, now it's right for Kermit. I agree.
I also like -- -I sang this song
'cause it was my son's favorite song
when he saw "The Muppet Movie."
"The Muppet Movie." Yeah. -Oh, yeah.
The one "If Only You Were Mine" with Barry Gibb,
I listened to this like four times today
because I like that there's banter in there
that is just not pre-written.
It's just you and Barry totally talking.
You're like, "This kind of sounds like
'Singin' in the Rain' a little bit."
And then he's going like --
It's fascinating.
-Brutally authentic, and that's what we recorded.
-And it says right here, "Streisand,"
that's up in the top corner here.
Did you ever think that you just have to go by Streisand?
Did you ever think of a stage name ever?
Did anyone ever try to convince you?
-Oh, yeah. Yeah.
People wanted me to be called Barbra Sands.
I thought, "What? No."
Streisand is my name. I don't want to change it.
And I thought for my first record,
they wanted me to call it "Sweet and Saucy Streisand."
I am neither too sweet nor too saucy.
[ Laughter ]
They saw the girl on TV, my first show.
I remember people were asking where's my album.
So I said, "Let's name it what it is --
'The Barbra Streisand Album.'"
-Yeah. -That's what it is. You know?
-And there you go.
I want to talk about
projects you have coming in the works.
More with Barbra Streisand when we come back.