"I can share that it was a tough decision," Jay Landers, Streisand's long-time A&R advisor, tells Billboard.
Barbra Streisand‘s new album, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, consists of 11 collaborations, just about any of which would be a strong entry in the upcoming Grammy competition for best pop duo/group performance. The album includes collaborations with Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Sting, Sam Smith and a three-way collab with Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande. And that’s just for starters.
In categories where the artist is a nominee, Grammy rules allow “up to two nominations per artist provided at least one is with a co-nominee(s).” So no more than two of the collaborations can be nominated for best pop duo/group performance.
So, what did Streisand’s team decide to go with? They are entering “One Heart, One Voice,” a collab with Carey and Grande, for record of the year, song of the year and best pop duo/group performance. They’re entering “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” a collab with Hozier that is the opening track on the album, for best arrangement, instruments and vocals.
“One Heart, One Voice” features three of the greatest singers of their respective generations: Streisand, 83; Carey, 56; and Grande, 32. In a way, it echoes a three-way collab on The Judy Garland Show in October 1963, when Streisand, then just 22, teamed with Judy Garland, then 41, and Ethel Merman, then 55, to sing Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”
Three-way collaborations among female artists are relatively rare, but Grande has been nominated for best pop duo/group performance with two such collabs over the years – “Bang Bang” (with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj) in 2015 and “The Boy Is Mine” (with Brandy and Monica) earlier this year.