You Gave Me the Answer: What was it like working with Barbra Streisand on your duet of ‘My Valentine’?

Over the years, Paul has shared a mic with some of the best voices in music, including (but not limited to) Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Diana Krall, and John Lennon! Now, with the upcoming release of her latest record, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, Paul can add the legendary Barbra Streisand to his list of duet partners, as he joins her on a new version of ‘My Valentine’.

We caught up with Paul to find out more about the recording process…

PaulMcCartney.com: What was it like working with Barbra Streisand on your duet of ‘My Valentine’?

Paul: Nerve-wracking. Nail-biting! I did the session with her in LA and I was pretty terrified. I think the session was about three hours, you know, a normal kind of session, and it was produced by my friend Peter Asher. But it started off with a big 40-piece orchestra on the Sony lot, which is one of the old Hollywood film studios; it’s very impressive. And we were on ‘The Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage’, so no pressure there! 

I thought, ‘Well, this will be easy because it’s my song, it’s “My Valentine”. What can go wrong?’ But what I’d forgotten was that they'd arranged it so that it had to go in Barbra's key and then in my key. So, to get from Barbra's key into mine was kind of difficult, and I had to launch in not knowing what key I was in. Mine was lower, hers was higher. It wasn’t easy at all! 

PM.com: It’s great the song is becoming a modern standard as well. We loved Michael Bublé’s version!

Paul: Yeah, I know. That was another reason I did it; I thought if Barbra is going to do my song, I’ve got to encourage that. And she was great. I didn’t realise how rounded she is, creatively. They were filming the session and as soon as we went in, she said, ‘Who put that camera there? That shouldn’t be there, bring it over here. And what about those lights?’ I thought, ‘Wow, you’re directing it!’ But then I suddenly remembered she’s directed three big movies. She’s a smart cookie.

‘My Valentine (with Paul McCartney)’ by Barbra Streisand is out now - listen here. You can hear the full album, which includes other artists such as Hozier, James Taylor, Ariana Grande and more, when it’s released on 27th June 2025. Visit Barbra Streisand’s website to find out
more.