Barbra Streisand

“I’m the greatest star/ I am by far/ But no one knows it!”

So sang Barbra Streisand in her breakout role as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway in 1964. Half a century later, there’s no one who doesn’t know of her stardom. But this year saw it reach new heights.

Her album of duets, Partners, went platinum in January, selling its millionth copy four months after its debut. That means Streisand has bested her own record as the woman with the most platinum albums in history with a grand (running) total of 31. Reba McEntire trails her at a distant second with 19.

Streisand celebrated another significant success when Partners debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in September, making her the only artist to have at least one top album in six consecutive decades. (Cher holds the same distinction, but for singles rather than albums.)

Babs has three male acts to beat to hold the record of most platinum albums of all time: George Strait (at 33, within shooting distance), the Beatles (42) and Elvis Presley (52), who incidentally duets from the grave with Streisand on Partners in “Love Me Tender.”

At 72, there’s still some time to catch up–so don’t rain on her parade.

–SARAH BEGLEY