Barbra Streisand is no stranger to duets. A stellar vocalist, Streisand has sung with numerous successful artists over the years, including Neil Diamond, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Barry Manilow, and others. But perhaps one of her most surprising duets came in 1988 with “Till I Loved You”. The song, the title track of Streisand’s 25th studio album, is written by Maury Yeston. Streisand sings the song with Don Johnson, making it a Top 5 hit.
“Till I Loved You” is originally part of Goya: A Life in Song. Planned first as a musical starring Placido Domingo, it later became an album, with Domingo singing this song with Dionne Warwick. The romantic tune begins with, “Nothing lived, nothing grew / Till I loved you / Every sky ever gray, never blue / You were my friend, good friend / And sometimes I would wonder / Could the one to save me / Possibly be you? / I was lost, I was blind / Till I loved you.”
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Johnson, at the time, had just begun what became a short-lived music career. He released his debut Heartbeat record in 1986, followed by Let It Roll in 1989. Best known at the time as the star of Miami Vice, Johnson only had one hit single on his own, with “Heartbeat”.
The Story Behind Barbra Streisand’s “Till I Loved You” Duet With Don Johnson
Streisand and Johnson were on the same label, which is how they got paired to record and release “Till I Loved You”. In a strange twist of fate, the song also sparked a romance between the two. Ultimately, “Till I Loved You” did not prove to be a true story for the two, who ultimately split up by the time the song came out.
Streisand flew to Calgary, where Johnson was filming. Sadly, he was not interested in hearing even the demo of “Till I Loved You”.
“Somehow it all went wrong,” Streisand says in her My Name Is Barbra memoir. She adds that it wasn’t the duet but Johnson’s attitude that made the couple go their separate ways.
“Singing with me apparently made him feel very insecure,” Streisand later reflects. “And instead of talking about it honestly, he just became very cold, and mistrustful, and angry. I tried to be sympathetic. I certainly had no intention of ruining his career, but it turned out he was concerned about exactly that. It seemed like an overreaction to me, but clearly he was upset, and therefore so was I.”
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