She Hated It, But Millions Loved It: Barbra Streisand’s No. 1 Hit “Woman in Love” She Rarely Performs
The song was released in August 1980 as the lead single from Barbra Streisand’s twenty-second studio album, titled Guilty. It achieved enormous commercial success, rapidly climbing the charts and reaching the No. 1 position in multiple countries, including the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, France, West Germany, and Switzerland.Written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, the emotional pop ballad was also produced by Barry Gibb himself.
This collaboration was part of a much broader and highly fruitful partnership between Streisand and the Gibb brothers for the entire Guilty album. Interestingly, despite the track becoming one of the most successful singles of Barbra Streisand’s entire illustrious career and marking her fifth No. 1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, the legendary singer has openly stated on several occasions that she does not particularly like the song.
Because of this personal dislike, she has very rarely performed the track live over the decades.The remarkable international success of the single played a significant role in driving the album Guilty to become the best-selling album of Barbra Streisand’s long and multi-decade career, cementing its place as one of the most commercially successful releases in her legendary discography.
