Barbra Streisand drops first new song in 6 years in response to rise in antisemitism

Barbra Streisand speaks during the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2024.

NEW YORK — Barbra Streisand has released her first new song in six years, saying she aims to bring awareness to the recent “rise in antisemitism around the world today.”

The 82-year-old Brooklyn native — and recent bestselling author — dropped “Love Will Survive” on Thursday.

The melancholy ballad, composed by Hans Zimmer in collaboration with Kara Talve and Walter Afanasieff, serves as the end title song for the forthcoming Peacock series “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” It’s Streisand’s first-ever recording for a TV series.

According to the streamer, the scripted drama — based on the 2018 Holocaust novel of the same name — is inspired by the real-life story of a Slovakian Jewish man deported to the largest Nazi death camp and forced to tattoo identification numbers on incoming prisoners’ arms. Amid his fight for survival, he forms an undeniable bond with a fellow prisoner, learning that love can be found even in the most horrific of places.

The project, which debuts on May 2, struck a chord for Streisand, who is Jewish.

“Because of the rise in antisemitism around the world today, I wanted to sing ‘Love Will Survive’ in the context of this series as a way of remembering the 6 million souls who were lost less than 80 years ago,” she said in a statement. “And also to say that even in the darkest of times, the power of love can triumph and endure.”

“Until I’m near you, somehow I’ll hear you,” Streisand sings. “Your voice will echo inside me forever.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents soared in 2023, largely driven by reactions to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. The ADL reported a 140% increase year-over-year in antisemitic acts, with nearly 60% of those happening after the start of the war.

Streisand’s last studio album, 2018’s “Walls,” was also politically charged, yielding “Don’t Lie to Me” aimed at then-President Donald Trump.

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