Barbra Streisand gave up touring after forgetting her words

The 64-year-old, who originally announced her retirement from touring six years ago, said she was back on the road again to raise funds for charity.

The Oscar winner is planning to donate $10m (�5.3m) from the 20-date North American tour, which covers 16 cities.

Streisand has sold more than 70 million records worldwide during her career and scored her 50th gold album last year.

The tour is expected to make about $90m (�47.6m) in ticket sales, with music magazine Billboard predicting it will set a new benchmark for prices.

The average price of a ticket was $275 (�145), with tour promoters saying some seats were selling for $750 (�397).

Wednesday night's first performance in South Philadelphia at the 16,000-seater Wachovia Center sold out.

Political message

Streisand was accompanied by a 58-piece orchestra and supported by operatic pop group Il Divo, who performed backing vocals for some of her songs.

The star included some classics such as Funny Girl, Come Rain or Come Shine and Somewhere.

She told the audience she now relies on a teleprompter to make sure she does not forget the words after she dried up during three songs at a concert in 1967.

The singer, who posts political articles on her website, included a sketch with an actor who played President George Bush.

He was made to look foolish by saying things like "I'm concerned about the national debt, so I'm selling Canada".