Barbra Streisand Sings Publicly for First Time in Years to Pay Tribute to Robert Redford

Barbra Streisand took to the mic for the first time in years as she performed a tribute to her late friend Robert Redford at the 98th Academy Awards.

The Oscar-winning actress and singer, 83, honored her late The Way We Were co-star, who died on Sept. 16, 2025, at the age of 89, during Sunday’s ceremony with a powerful rendition of the 1973 film’s title track.

Streisand’s performance of “The Way We Were” marks the first time she’s performed publicly in seven years and a decade since she last performed the specific song at 2013’s 85th Annual Academy Awards in tribute to composer Marvin Hamlisch.

Before singing, Streisand recalled reading the script for the Sydney Pollack-directed romantic drama for the first time and said she could only imagine Redford in the role of Hubbell Gardiner.

“He turned it down because he said the character had no backbone, he doesn’t stand for anything. And he was right. So many drafts later, Bob finally agreed to do it,” she said. “He was a brilliant, subtle actor. And we had a wonderful time playing off each other because we never quite knew what the other one was going to do in the scene.”

Off-screen, Streisand said she had a “real backbone” and was a dedicated advocate for free speech and the arts. “He was thoughtful and bold,” she continued. “I called him an intellectual cowboy, who blazed his own trail… I miss him now more than ever, even though he loved teasing me. He called me ‘Babs’ and I said, ‘Bob, do I look like a Babs? I’m not a Babs, you know?’ But the way he said it made me laugh.”

Years later, Streisand recalled talking on the phone with Redford, when he told her, “Babs, I love you dearly and I always will” before they hung up. She added, “And in the last note I ever wrote to Bob, I ended it with, ‘I love you, too.’ And I signed it, ‘Babs.’”

Redford and Streisand’s The Way We Were was nominated for six Oscars when it came out, winning for Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song for Streisand’s title track.

Following Redford’s death, Streisand mourned the loss on Instagram, writing that every day on the set of their film together was “exciting, intense and pure joy.”

“We were such opposites: he was from the world of horses; I was allergic to them! Yes, we kept trying to find out more about each other, just like the characters in the movie,” she added. “Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting — and one of the finest actors ever.”

“The last time I saw him, when he came to lunch, we discussed art and decided to send each other our first drawings,” she concluded. “He was one of a kind and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”