Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. Over a career spanning more than six decades, Streisand's success in the entertainment industry has included Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards.
Streisand began performing in the early 1960s in nightclubs and Broadway theaters, which led to guest appearances on various television shows. Signing onto Columbia Records, Streisand retained full artistic control of her performances in exchange for accepting lower pay—an arrangement that continued throughout her career. Her studio debut The Barbra Streisand Album (1963) won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. During her recording career, Streisand has amassed a total of 31 RIAA platinum-certified albums, including People (1964), The Way We Were (1974), Guilty (1980), The Broadway Album (1985), and Higher Ground (1997). She was the first woman to score 11 number one albums on the US Billboard 200—from People to Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway (2016)—and remains the only artist to top the chart in six decades.