Barbra Streisand Racked by Stage Fright, Likely Won’t Perform Live Despite Releasing New Album

Diva Barbra Streisand will never sing again — on stage, that is!

“Just the idea of performing in front of a crowd makes her feel sick and wobbly,” a source says.

The 83-year-old legend has been prone to stage fright for decades, and it’s rearing its head again — even though she has a new studio album, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, to promote. It features duets with her and Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Sting, Josh Groban and others.

“She can’t possibly go on stage now!” says the source.

Her terror at performing live can be traced to a 1967 incident during a free concert at New York’s Central Park. As she describes in her 970-page memoir, My Name Is Barbra, she forgot the words to “When the Sun Comes Out” mid-song.

“She stood there stunned, motionless and terrified as the audience stared at her, waiting for her to continue,” says the source. “She did, in fact, get through it, but it left a permanent scar.”

Since then, she has used a teleprompter in case she ever blanks on the words to a tune again, but she’s still scared and now refuses to step on stage, according to our insider.

So even though she’s very proud of the new album, her phobia means she won’t be singing any of the songs in front of an audience, says the source.

“She enjoyed working with all these wonderful performers, but she’s adamantly against booking any tour dates.”

The source says that despite all her bluster and brash public statements, at heart she’s an extremely shy person — and her stage fright is a result of that. Her refusal to appear in concert will no doubt “disappoint tons of fans and the record execs, but no amount of money will coerce Barbra into doing what she doesn’t want to do,” adds the insider.

Babs confirmed this when she was recently asked if she’ll tour again. “Oh, God. I doubt it!” she told Variety. “There’s a little part of me that may consider that. But the other part of me goes, why?”