Barbra Streisand records first new song in SIX YEARS for Holocaust series The Tattooist of Auschwitz as icon slams ‘rise of antisemitism in the world today’: ‘Love can triumph’
Barbra Streisand has recorded her first new song in six years for Peacock’s new drama series, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
The Hollywood legend, 81, who comes from a Jewish family, decided to lend her iconic vocals to the song Love Will Survive – due to the ‘rise of anti-Semitism’ in today’s world.
The six-part series is based on the bestseller of the same name by New Zealand author Heather Morris and is inspired by the true love story between two people who met in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.
The series stars Harvey Keitel, Melanie Lynskey, Jonah Hauer-King, Anna Próchniak and Jonas Nay and premieres on May 2.
Streisand said in a statement: “Due to the rise of anti-Semitism around the world today, I wanted to sing Love Will Survive in the context of this series, as a way to commemorate the six million souls who died less than 80 years ago. have been lost.
Barbra Streisand has recorded her first new song in six years for Peacock’s new drama series The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The six-part series is based on the bestseller of the same name by New Zealand author Heather Morris and is inspired by the true love story between two people who met in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Pictured: Jonah Hauer-King as Lali Sokolov and Anna Próchniak as Gita Furman
“And also to say that even in the darkest of times, the power of love can prevail and endure.”
The song will be released on April 25 via Columbia Records.
She last released new material on the album Walls, which was released in 2018.
Love Will Survive reunites the star with Walls collaborator Walter Afanasieff, co-writer and producer on the new song, with Peter Asher co-producing.
The co-writers of the music with Afanasieff are Hans Zimmer and Kara Talve, and the lyrics were written by Charlie Midnight.
Zimmer and Talve are the co-composers for the limited series, and Streisand is joined on the track by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by William Ross.
Streisand is executive producing the new song, along with Jay Landers and Russell Emanuel.
Claire Mundell of Synchronicity Films, executive producer of the series, added: “Barbra Streisand is one of the most renowned artists in the world, and we are deeply honored to be working with her.
The Hollywood legend, 81, who comes from a Jewish family, decided to lend her iconic vocals to the song Love Will Survive – due to the ‘rise of anti-Semitism’ in today’s world
Harvey Keitel plays the older version of Lali Sokolov
‘Barbra and her team have created the most beautiful song based on Hans and Kara’s main theme for the show, and it summarizes the core message of the series: love will survive.
‘Recording the song with Barbra’s iconic vocals and William Ross conducting the LSO at Abbey Road Studios was an unforgettable moment and a memory I will cherish forever. We are pleased to be able to honor the memory of Lali and Gita in this way with this beautiful original piece of music.’
The Tattooist of Auschwitz follows Lali (Jonah Hauer-King), a Slovak Jew who was deported in 1942 to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where more than a million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
Shortly after arriving, he is appointed one of the tattoo artists tasked with inking identification numbers on prisoners’ arms.
One day he meets Gita (Anna Próchniak) and they experience love at first sight, and so begins their courageous, unforgettable story.
Under constant surveillance by a volatile Nazi SS officer Baretzki (Jonas Nay), Lali and Gita were determined to keep each other alive.
About 60 years later, Lali (Harvey Keitel) meets aspiring writer Heather Morris (Melanie Lynskey).
He was recently widowed and finds the courage to tell his story to the world.
It’s been a long road bringing this remarkable story to life.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz follows Lali, a Slovak Jew deported in 1942 to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where more than a million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust
“We started developing this story five years ago and I was struck by how the book became a bestseller at a time when Holocaust awareness was declining.” says executive producer Claire Mundell
“We started developing this story five years ago and I was struck by how the book became a bestseller at a time when Holocaust awareness was declining.” says Mundell.
‘Our series tells the story and experience of a man from Auschwitz and how he found love in the darkest places. It is a story that is as important today as it ever was.”
After starting her career performing in nightclubs and Broadway theaters in the early 1960s, the New York native emphasized her singing career, releasing two studio albums a year from 1963 to 1967.
She also gained recognition for her Broadway performances at that time in I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1961–1963) and Funny Girl (1964–1965), both of which earned her a Tony Award nomination.
Her big break in film came with the adaptation of the musical comedy-drama Funny Girl (1968), which resulted in her winning an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Whether in film, as an actress or director, on television or on stage, Streisand succeeded in all areas of show business.
In fact, her broad skillset over a career spanning more than six decades has put her on the shortlist of people who could win an EGOT, i.e. someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
As of 2023, only 18 people have achieved competitive EGOT status and six others, including Streisand, have done so with honorary or special awards.
While she devoted the time to her wide talents and interests, her film career seemed to take the biggest hit, not because of a lack of love, but because of the enormous time it takes for a film production.
After scoring hits as star and director in The Prince of Tides (1991) and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), the Brooklyn native has only appeared in three comedy films in 27 years.
With her last film coming out almost fourteen years ago, Barbra readily admits that she’s just too tired to make another film.
“It gets tiring to figure out the structure of the movie and then not make it happen,” she said PEOPLE earlier this month.
“I had a lot of movies I wanted to make, and then I got lazy.”
About 60 years later, Lali (Harvey Keitel) meets aspiring writer Heather Morris (Melanie Lynskey). He was recently widowed and finds the courage to tell his story to the world. Both shown
She added, “I say, ‘Oh yeah, to do this one, I need all these period clothing accessories. For this one, I have to live in Arkansas.’ Don’t know. It’s complicated, but I’m complicated too, I guess… I get lazy,” she admitted.
In her recent autobiography My Name Is Barbra, she also revealed that if she had continued making films all these years, she would never have been able to write the book.
“If I could have made my films, I would never have written a book,” said the singer of The Way We Were. ‘I had such good films to make, which meant they were about things I thought were important, very interesting subjects.’
Ultimately, it took Streisand about ten years to write her 970-page memoir, which spans her early life in New York and her career in New York and Hollywood.
While the audiobook version included 48 hours of commentary from Streisand himself, it ultimately took about six weeks to complete.
“I think I was so fed up with myself when I made the audiobook, can you imagine? “I mean, you write a book for 10 years, and then you have to say it out loud,” she said Variety last month.
In her memoir, the legendary performer also opens up about her life with husband James Brolin, 83, whom she met on a blind date in 1996 and married two years later.