'A Star Is Born': Do You Know These GRAMMY Facts?
A classic film is set to be reborn, yet again.
Following her first headlining performance at Coachella, reports have swirled about Lady Gaga beginning to film scenes with co-star Bradley Cooper in Southern California for an impending 2018 remake of A Star Is Born. The film will not only mark Gaga's first leading role on the silver screen but the fourth overall film adaptation of the romantic drama.
The original debuted in 1937 and was followed by a 1954 remake starring GRAMMY winner Judy Garland. The 1976 version of A Star Is Born rebooted the story around the love affair of characters John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson), a gruff rock star past his expiration date, and Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand), an up-and-coming female songwriter. The film was a blockbuster, earning $80 million at the U.S. box office, as was the soundtrack, which held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for six weeks.
With Lady Gaga set to prove the film can be "ageless and evergreen" for a new generation, here is a trio of GRAMMY facts about the 1976 film's soundtrack:
The all-star A Star Is Born soundtrack features more than 10 GRAMMY winners
In addition to Streisand and Kristofferson, the A Star Is Born soundtrack is crawling with contributions from GRAMMY-winning talent, including songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Kenny Loggins, Leon Russell, Donna Weiss, and Paul Williams; arrangers Ian Freebairn-Smith and Pat Williams; engineer Tommy Vicari; trombonist James Pankow; and producer/engineer Phil Ramone.
The soundtrack netted 3 GRAMMY wins and 5 nominations
At the 20th GRAMMY Awards, the song "Love Theme From A Star Is Born (Evergreen)" earned four nominations and ultimately won three. It tied with "You Light Up My Life" for Song Of The Year honors, which went to writers Streisand and Paul Williams. Streisand won outright for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) went to Freebairn-Smith. The soundtrack was also up for Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special, which was awarded to the soundtrack for Star Wars.
Streisand's two wins marked her first GRAMMYs in 12 years
Streisand began her music career with a bang, earning consecutive GRAMMYs for 1963, 1964 and 1965. Though she received multiple nominations in the years between, she would not win her next GRAMMY until her two wins for 1977 for "Love Theme From A Star Is Born (Evergreen)."
Bonus fact: Streisand performed "Love Theme …" for a president
The legendary singer performed a medley of hits, including the effervescent love theme from A Star Is Born, at the 1993 inauguration gala for President Bill Clinton. Babs dedicated the song to the Clintons, which she described as the president's "favorite" Barbra Streisand song.
