Barbra Streisand's Emotional Tribute to Robert Redford at the Oscars Brings the House Down
Barbra Streisand brought the Dolby Theatre to its feet Sunday night with one of the most memorable moments in recent Oscars history — a heartfelt tribute to her late co-star Robert Redford that ended with her singing from the film that made them icons together.
Streisand, 83, took the stage during the In Memoriam segment to honor Redford, who passed away last September at 89. She has been effectively retired from live performance since her 2017 tour, and has spoken openly about how singing live gives her what she calls "the willies" — which made her appearance all the more electric.
She opened with a speech, quipping, "After I read the first script of 'The Way We Were,' I could only imagine one man in the role — and that was Robert Redford. But he turned it down because he said the character had no backbone. He doesn't stand for anything. And he was right."
She described the many rewrites that followed before Redford finally agreed to take the role, and the joy of working opposite someone she could never quite predict on set.
@billboard Barbra Streisand pays tribute to her friend Robert Redford at the #Oscars with a performance of the title song from their 1973 film ‘The Way We Were’ #oscars2026 #barbrastreisand #robertredford
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She spoke about his legacy beyond the screen — his environmental advocacy, his defense of freedom of the press, and the Sundance Institute he founded in 1981, which she noted has launched careers of filmmakers nominated at that very ceremony. "I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail," she said, "and won the Academy Award for best director."
Then she sang. A stanza from "The Way We Were" — the title song that hit number one on the Billboard charts in 1974 and won the Oscar for Best Original Song the same year — closed out her tribute in a moment that left the room silent before erupting.
It was Streisand's first Oscars performance since 2013, when she sang the same song to honor composer Marvin Hamlisch.