The Essential Barbra Streisand is a two-disc compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 of Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

 (her first career-retrospective) released by Sony BMG as part of their Essentials

The Essentials

The Essentials may refer to:* The Essentials , a Canadian a cappella music group* The Essentials , a TCM film-series program* A series of greatest hits albums released by WEA International:** The Essentials...

series. Released in January 2002, and drawing from four decades of her work, it includes all but one of her top-ten hits, and most of her top-forty hits. The album was particularly well-received as it reviewed most of her career - throughout its 38 songs, there are 26 albums represented. In addition, it includes two previously unreleased songs - "Someday My Prince Will Come" and a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone

You'll Never Walk Alone (song)

"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.In the musical, in the second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the female protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the...

". The album was a big hit. It also went Platinum

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Disc: 1

1. "A Sleepin' Bee
   A Sleepin' Bee
   "A Sleepin' Bee" is a popular song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Arlen and Truman Capote. It was introduced in the musical House of Flowers by Diahann Carroll.The signature line is "When a bee lies sleeping In the palm of your hand ..."...
   
   "
2. "Cry Me a River"
3. "(Have I Stayed) Too Long at the Fair"
4. "Lover, Come Back to Me
   Lover, Come Back to Me
   "Lover, Come Back to Me" is a popular song. The music was written by Sigmund Romberg with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the Broadway show The New Moon, where the song was introduced by Evelyn Herbert and Robert Halliday...
   
   "
5. "People"
6. "My Man
   My Man
   "My Man" is a 1982 single by Yoko Ono from the album It's Alright in a New Wave/calypso style. The minimalist "Let The Tears Dry" appeared on the B-side....
   
   "
7. "Second Hand Rose"
8. "He Touched Me
   He Touched Me
   He Touched Me is a 1972 gospel music album by Elvis Presley. It earned Presley his second of three Grammy Awards. It was his third and final studio gospel album, and the most contemporary of the three. The album was certified Gold on 3/27/1992 and Platinum on 7/15/1999 by the RIAA.-Track listing:#...
   
   "
9. "Don't Rain on My Parade
   Don't Rain on My Parade
   "Don't Rain On My Parade" is a popular song from the 1964 musical Funny Girl. It was also featured in the 1968 movie version of the musical. The song was written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne. Both the movie and stage versions feature Barbra Streisand performing the song. It has since become one of...
   
   "
10. "Happy Days Are Here Again
    Happy Days Are Here Again
    "Happy Days Are Here Again" is a song copyrighted in 1929 by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen and published by EMI Robbins Catalog, Inc./Advanced Music Corp...
    
    " Live From Central Park
    Central Park
    Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
    
    
11. "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
    On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (film)
    On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a 1970 American musical/romantic fantasy film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is adapted from his book for the 1965 stage production of the same name...
    
    "
12. "Stoney End
    Stoney End
    Stoney End is the twelfth studio album by Barbra Streisand. Released in 1971, it was a change in direction for Streisand with a more upbeat contemporary pop sound...
    
    "
13. "Since I Fell for You
    Since I Fell for You
    "Since I Fell for You" is a jazz and pop standard. The blues ballad was composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 and was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra. The biggest hit version was recorded by Lenny Welch in 1963, reaching number four on the U.S...
    
    "
14. "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
    What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
    "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film The Happy Ending in which Bill Eaton sings it under the opening credits...
    
    "
15. "The Way We Were
    The Way We Were (song)
    "The Way We Were" is the title song to the 1973 movie The Way We Were, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The song was written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, scored by Marvin Hamlisch and performed by Streisand...
    
    "
16. "All in Love Is Fair"
17. "Lazy Afternoon"
18. "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)
    Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)
    "Evergreen " is the theme song from the 1976 film A Star Is Born. It was composed and performed by Barbra Streisand with lyrics by Paul Williams. The song was released on the soundtrack album to A Star Is Born....
    
    "
19. "My Heart Belongs to Me
    My Heart Belongs to Me
    "My Heart Belongs to Me" is a popular song from 1977 . It was originally performed by the songwriter, Alan Gordon, but the more famous version of the song was recorded by American singer and actress Barbra Streisand....
    
    "
20. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers
    You Don't Bring Me Flowers
    "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" is a song that hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. It is a song about two lovers who have drifted apart while they "go through the motions" and heartache of life together....
    
    " Duet Version (performed by Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond
    Neil Diamond
    Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
    
    )
21. "The Main Event
    The Main Event
    The term main event typically refers to the championship fight at a combat-sport event, the most prestigious match on the card.The Main Event may also refer to:-Film and television:...
    
    /Fight"
22. "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
    No More Tears (Enough is Enough)
    "No More Tears " is a duet from 1979 by Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand. While Summer was famous for her disco material and Streisand for her more easy listening and soundtrack work , this song fused both sounds with a slow beginning which then develops into a disco song...
    
    " (performed by Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer
    Donna Summer
    LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
    
    ) Radio Version

Disc: 2

1. "Woman in Love
   Woman in Love
   "Woman in Love" is a popular song performed by Barbra Streisand and taken from her 1980 album, Guilty. The song was written by Barry and Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees....
   
   "
2. "Guilty" (performed by Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb
   Barry Gibb
   Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, CBE , is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed The Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major...
   
   )
3. "Comin' In and Out of Your Life"
4. "Memory"
5. "Papa, Can You Hear Me?
   Papa, Can You Hear Me?
   "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" is a 1983 song, performed by Barbra Streisand for the film Yentl. The song was composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman....
   
   "
6. "A Piece of Sky"
7. "Putting It Together"
8. "Not While I'm Around"
9. "Send in the Clowns
   Send in the Clowns
   "Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
   
   "
10. "Somewhere
    Somewhere (song)
    "Somewhere" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story which was made into a film in 1961. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and takes a phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto, which forms the start of the...
    
    "
11. "All I Ask of You
    All I Ask of You
    "All I Ask of You" is a song from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version of The Phantom of the Opera.It was released as a single on both 7 and 12 inch vinyl in 1986 by Cliff Richard and Sarah Brightman.It was certified Silver in the UK....
    
    "
12. "Children Will Listen"
13. "As If We Never Said Goodbye"
14. "I Finally Found Someone
    I Finally Found Someone
    "I Finally Found Someone" is a song duet from 1996 with Bryan Adams and Barbra Streisand. The song was part of the soundtrack in Barbra's self-directed movie The Mirror Has Two Faces and was nominated for an Oscar...
    
    " (performed by Barbra Streisand & Bryan Adams
    Bryan Adams
    Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
    
    )
15. "Tell Him
    Tell Him (Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion song)
    "Tell Him" is a duet between Barbra Streisand and Céline Dion. It was released on November 3, 1997 as the first single from Dion's Let's Talk About Love and Streisand's Higher Ground albums....
    
    " (performed by Barbra Streisand & Celine Dion
    Celine Dion
    Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
    
    )
16. "I've Dreamed of You" (extended Introduction)
17. "Someday My Prince Will Come
    Some Day My Prince Will Come
    "Some Day My Prince Will Come" is a popular song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was written by Larry Morey & Frank Churchill , and performed by Adriana Caselotti...
    
    " (previously unreleased)
18. "You'll Never Walk Alone
    You'll Never Walk Alone
    You'll Never Walk Alone is a song from the musical Carousel, a pop standard and football club anthem, for example that of Liverpool F.C.You'll Never Walk Alone may also refer to:* You'll Never Walk Alone , studio album...
    
    " (previously unreleased)

A new version appeared on August 26, 2008 with a new added third cd with 9 tracks

Disc: 3

1. Letting Go
2. Love Like Ours
3. At the Same Time
4. By the Way
5. Unusual Way [Live]
6. Evergreen (Love Theme from a Star Is Born) [Live]
7. Wild Is the Wind [From Wild Is the Wind]
8. On My Way to You
9. After the Rain

Chart performance

The essential is one of the best selling worldwide from Sony BMG's "The Essential" collection, with 2.5 million copies sold worldwide before 2004.

Following the 2009, number 1 success of the album Love is the answer

Love Is the Answer (album)

Love Is the Answer is an album of jazz standards by Barbra Streisand released on September 29, 2009. The album was produced by Diana Krall and features Krall on piano. Orchestral arrangements are by Johnny Mandel, Anthony Wilson and Alan Broadbent. A deluxe edition contains a bonus disc featuring...

, that album reached number 78 in the UK, 7 years after its official release.

Country	Peak position	Number of weeks	Certification	Sales
Australia	4		Platinum	100,000
United Kingdom	1		Platinum	725,000
Finland IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...	3	14	Gold	15,840
France	9	8	Gold	200,000
Spain	2		Platinum	140,000
Sweden	4		Gold	10,000
United States (Billboard Comprehensive Albums Billboard Comprehensive Albums Billboard Comprehensive Albums was established in 2003 and was a weekly albums chart produced by Billboard magazine that ranked the biggest selling albums in the United States regardless of the product's age or method of sales.... )	15	6	Platinum	1,300,000
WorldwideUnited World Chart	2	15	2 x Platinum	2,800,000