Barry Gibb Told A Fan This 1980 Pop Ballad Is One Of His Favorite Songs He Wrote For Another Artist

Barry Gibb wrote more No. 1 hits than he ever scored himself, but only one he was willing to admit to a fan was his favorite composition outside of the Bee Gees. It's a widely believed and false fact that the Bee Gees disappeared after disco went passé; the group's members, particularly Gibb, went on to make music for others, and when he connected with Streisand, it resulted in a career highlight.

Streisand is among the best-selling and most consistently popular musicians in history, but from the beginning of her career in the early 1960s, she's tended to stick to old-fashioned and niche music. Possessing a voice both ethereal and powerful, Streisand is historically most comfortable performing old standards and show tunes made famous by musicals on Broadway, where she first showed off her vocal talents and star quality.

After going all the way to No. 1 in the 1970s with a few easy listening songs heard in her films, including "Evergreen" from "A Star is Born" and the title theme from "The Way We Were," plus the serendipitous duet of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Neil Diamond, Streisand got a taste for mainstream pop. To build her most widely appealing and modern-sounding LP to date, and probably ever, in 1980, Streisand enlisted Gibb's help. What they made was, according to Gibb on an internet message board, highly cherished.

Barbra Streisand's 1980's album "Guilty" is so awash in Barry Gibb's contributions as a producer and writer that he appears on the front cover, uncredited but embracing Streisand. Along with his brothers and fellow Bee Gees Maurice and Robin Gibb and the variously credited Albhy Galuten, the team co-wrote all nine tracks on "Guilty" and produced the whole thing. On several songs, Gibb provided background vocals and fully duetted with Streisand on the LP's title cut. Gibb played acoustic guitar throughout the album, including on the dreamy single "Woman in Love." Sounding a lot like a standard Bee Gees song — there's propulsive electric guitar, a beat somewhere between disco and soft rock, high-pitched vocals, and a thick sheen over the top of everything — "Woman in Love" was issued as the lead single from "Guilty," and it took just seven weeks to hit No. 1, spending three weeks at the top in the fall of 1980.

In 2020, Gibb participated in an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, fielding questions from fans and strangers. User BitOfACraic queried Gibb, "What was your favourite song you wrote for another artist?" Gibb's answer, without hesitation: "'Woman in Love' for Barbara [sic] Streisand." He offered a close runner-up, too: "The Love Inside," an album cut from "Guilty."