I Love Barbra Streisand and Her Gorgeous Goyishe Guy, James Brolin

Reported by Vogue.

Barbra Streisand and James Brolin's nearly three-decade marriage reads like a rom-com script—complete with a meet-cute so perfectly awkward it could only happen in real life. The EGOT-winning icon and the actor first crossed paths in 1996 at a dinner party orchestrated by Streisand's friend Christine Peters, who had decided they needed to know each other. Streisand went in with expectations shaped by Brolin's soap opera role as a dark-haired, bearded heartthrob. Reality delivered differently: he showed up clean-shaven with a buzz cut. Her reaction? A hand to his head and the immortal question: "Who fucked up your hair?" He was charmed. (Because of course he was.)

That unfiltered New York directness set the tone for what would become one of Hollywood's most enduring partnerships. They debuted as a couple that same year and married in 1998 at Streisand's LA home. The longevity matters—for two A-list celebrities, staying married for nearly thirty years while both remaining active in their careers is genuinely rare. Streisand documented their early relationship in her 2023 memoir, but the love story gets even weirder and more wonderful when you consider its cultural footprint.

A Love That Inspired a Rock Anthem

According to Vogue, songwriter Diane Warren penned the Aerosmith power ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" after hearing about an interview where Brolin mentioned his inability to sleep without Streisand nearby—he couldn't bear to miss a moment with her. Warren transformed that nugget of devotion into a chart-topping rock classic. Streisand also channeled the relationship directly into her 1999 album A Love Like Ours, essentially creating a sonic time capsule of their early years together. They now occupy an unlikely corner of music history, having inspired both intimate jazz and stadium-sized rock.

Fast-forward to now, and the couple has evolved into the platonic ideal of doting grandparents. When Brolin's son Josh's wife gave Streisand a bracelet reading "Grandma," she cried. "She is really into it," Josh told People in 2018, describing her as "a very typical Jewish grandmother who is saturated by this event." There's something genuinely moving about watching one of the most decorated performers in entertainment history find equal joy in a role that has nothing to do with accolades or applause.

Their relationship proves that sometimes the most lasting love stories are the ones that begin with brutal honesty and a completely unvarnished first impression.

Read the original at Vogue.