If you’ve watched PBS in the last week or two, you’ve seen it: an airing of Barbra Streisand: Timeless, Barbra Streisand‘s 2000 Fox special which was taped live on New Year’s Eve 1999 and New Year’s Day 2000 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. If you haven’t seen it yet, make it a point to watch it. The singer, 57 at the time, was in great voice, and was personable and even playful with the audience.
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Streisand’s performance on the special brought her a Primetime Emmy nomination for outstanding individual performance in a variety or music program. She was up against strong competition: Steve Martin for hosting the 2001 Oscars, David Letterman for hosting Late Show With David Letterman, Will Ferrell for hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live, Ellen DeGeneres (who hosted that year’s Primetime Emmys) for one of her HBO specials and Wayne Brady for hosting Whose Line Is It Anyway?
The votes were in, the ballots were tallied — and then, just five days before the Emmys were to be presented, 9/11 happened. The Emmys, which were originally scheduled for Sept. 16, 2001, were rescheduled twice: to Oct. 7 and, after the start of the War in Afghanistan, to Nov. 4. These were scary times. The awards ceremony was moved from its planned location, the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, to the smaller Shubert Theater in Century City. To heighten security, sharpshooters were placed on rooftops, attendees passed through metal detectors, nearby businesses were closed, and the Shubert complex’s two lowest underground parking levels were blocked off due to the risk of car bombs.
Will & Grace stars Eric McCormack and Debra Messing presented the award for outstanding individual performance in a variety or music program. Messing announced Streisand as the winner and said “Barbra Streisand was unable to attend this evening. We congratulate her on this honor.”
Streisand was indeed present at the Shubert, but in a show of remarkable discipline and sacrifice, passed up the opportunity to go onstage and give an acceptance speech. She knew that would lessen the dramatic impact of her surprise, show-closing performance of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” in which she used her talents to try to heal a nation’s raw wounds.
She was backed by a gospel choir on the performance, which was dramatically staged, with names of some of those killed in the attacks on display. A sign read, “Our hearts are broken. Our spirit is not.” That summed up the spirit of the performance, which brought a standing ovation from the audience.
Gary Smith was executive producer of the 2001 Emmy telecast. He had worked with Streisand for many years, both on her own specials and when she appeared on other shows he worked on, such as The Judy Garland Show (1963) and Singer Presents Burt Bacharach (1971), where Streisand memorably sang a duet with herself on “One Less Bell to Answer”/“A House Is Not a Home.” Smith also executive produced the May 2, 2001 special where Streisand received the AFI Life Achievement Award. He died in August 2025 at age 90.
Barbra Streisand: Timeless won a total of four Emmys, also including one for Marvin Hamlisch for outstanding music direction. It was Streisand’s fifth special to win one or more Primetime Emmys, following My Name Is Barbra (1965), Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park (1969), Barbra Streisand…And Other Musical Instruments (1974) and Barbra Streisand: The Concert (1995).
A Timeless: Live in Concert album was released on Sept. 19, 2000. The double-disk set, Streisand’s fifth live album, debuted and peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and charted for 17 weeks.
Here’s that performance from the night of Nov. 4, 2001.
