The song, named after the American singer Barbra Streisand, extensively uses a sample from German disco group Boney M.'s 1979 international hit single "Gotta Go Home", which in turn borrows content from the 1973 German song "Hallo Bimmelbahn" by the band Nighttrain. The single's album artwork is modelled directly after Streisand's own 1980 album, Guilty, which features a picture of her and Barry Gibb on the sleeve. For the "Barbra Streisand" cover, Streisand and Gibb's faces are digitally removed and replaced with duck beaks.
Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song five out of five stars, stating, "... 'Barbra Streisand' actually kinda suits the track, a sassy, no-messin' disco-house dazzler which tips its trilby in the direction of Studio 54 circa 1979 – happily enough, just when Babs was enjoying her own dancefloor dalliance with 'The Main Event' / 'Fight' and 'No More Tears'. Lack of lyrics notwithstanding, it's deliriously catchy, endlessly danceable and ultimately so uplifting that it could even cheer you up after watching the denouement of 'The Way We Were'." Jason Lipshutz from Billboard gave the song a positive review, describing it as "one of the weirdest, most intoxicating dance anthems in recent memory," and wrote: "The most surprising thing about this collaboration... is its richness in sound in between the beat-stopping utterances of Streisand's name. Guitar licks collide with heavy doses of synthesizers as a fist-pumping beat refuses to let up. The busy instrumentation is brilliantly paired with overly simple vocals: An upbeat chorus of 'oohs' instantly lodges inside the listener's brain, and 'Barbra Streisand' morphs into an inexplicable command to start dancing." Michael Cragg of The Guardian called the song "an insanely catchy slice of disco house."
Chart performance
The song peaked at number eighty-nine on the BillboardHot 100 in May 2011, and number one on the BillboardHot Dance Club Songs chart for the week ending on 18 December 2010. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted and peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart on 17 October 2010 ― for the week ending date 23 October 2010 ― selling 67,000 copies in its first week. It also topped the UK Dance Chart. In the Netherlands, the song debuted at number twenty five on the Dutch Top 40. It rose up to number two, staying there for several weeks. It broke the record for the most time spent in the second position, without ever reaching the first place.
Use in other media
The song was featured in the Glee second season episode titled "Born This Way".
This song is a playable track in the video game Just Dance 3.
This song was used heavily for the Philippines' Department of Tourism ad campaigns in 2012–13.
This song was featured in a commercial for Vitaminwater in 2011.
An official TV spot for the 2012 film The Guilt Trip includes a clip of Streisand and co-star Seth Rogen listening to the song in the car, with Streisand muting it when her name is uttered to instead shout "Me!"
Used as card in 2017 Hasbro, Harmonix, Dropmix game. 11/15 percussion.
