Sixty-two years ago, a poor girl from Brooklyn, raised by a single mother, won a talent contest in a New York bar (her friends didn’t even know she could sing; she was mostly excited by the free meal). The win secured her a brief nightclub act which became iconic, leading to a fancier nightclub, spots on TV and a small Broadway role in I Can Get It For You Wholesale, where she stopped the show with just two songs, scored a Tony nomination and married the leading man, newcomer Elliot Gould.

A starring role in Broadway’s Funny Girl followed, which made her a star, while the subsequent film made her a global phenomenon and scored her first Academy Award (she now has two; one for songwriting). Her first album won a Grammy, and her first TV special an Emmy. Now, at 80, Barbra Streisand is still creating strong original work, and remains the only singer to have No. 1 albums across six decades.