Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy (born October 25, 1941, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia—died September 29, 2020, Los Angeles, California, U.S.) was an Australian-born American singer-songwriter, the first Australian-born pop singer to win a Grammy Award. She won the Grammy for her hit single “I Am Woman” (1971), an anthem for the women’s liberation movement in the early 1970s. The single sold more than 1 million copies.

Reddy’s father was a theatrical producer, writer, and actor, and her mother was an actress. She was initiated into show business at an early age, having joined her parents for her first professional performance at age four. Most of her childhood was spent touring with her family as a vaudeville act. At age 12, however, she decided to quit show business, and, while her parents remained on tour, she lived with an aunt who became an influential role model in her life. Nonetheless, she pursued her passion for singing and worked on developing her voice and acting skills. After an early marriage, pregnancy, and divorce, Reddy joined a traveling theatrical company. She also made regular appearances singing with a band on Melbourne Tonight, a late-night variety show, and was a guest performer on the television show Sunnyside Up. Her reputation as an entertainer led to a brief run of her own television program, Helen Reddy Sings.

In 1966 Reddy took first prize in an Australian talent contest, winning a trip to New York City, which included an audition with Mercury Records. The audition fell through, however, leaving her without a recording contract. Despite the setback, Reddy remained in New York, working a variety of singing gigs to earn an income. While there, she met her future husband, talent agent Jeff Wald. Wald was an ambitious promoter and helped Reddy find performance opportunities. In 1967 the couple moved to Chicago and then to Los Angeles. A year later, Reddy began recording for Capitol Records. Her hit single “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” (1971), a song from the rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar, stayed on the charts for 22 weeks. Reddy’s debut album, I Don’t Know How to Love Him (1971), followed up the single and was the first of a string of successes.

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Reddy’s enormous hit “I Am Woman,” written by Reddy and Ray Burton, appeared on her debut album. The song did not become popular, however, until it was released on the soundtrack of the women’s liberation film Stand Up and Be Counted (1972). By the end of 1972 “I Am Woman” had gone platinum and reached number one on the charts. The song subsequently brought Reddy a Grammy Award and made her a symbol of the women’s movement. Over the next five years Reddy had many hits, including “Delta Dawn” (1973), “Keep On Singing” (1974), “You and Me Against the World” (1974), “Angie Baby” (1974), “Emotion” (1974), “Bluebird” (1975), “Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady” (1975), “I Can’t Hear You No More” (1976), “Gladiola” (1976), “You’re My World” (1977), and a remake of Gale Garnett’s 1964 hit “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine” (1978).

In 1974 Reddy became a naturalized United States citizen. She left Capitol Records for MCA in 1979 and released several albums in the early 1980s, none of which did well with record buyers. Through the 1970s and early 1980s, she enjoyed a fruitful career in film and television, featuring as a guest on talk shows and various other programs. She played in a feature role in Disney’s film Pete’s Dragon (1977). She divorced Wald in 1982. She continued to perform at smaller venues and events across the country. Her final hit single, “I Can’t Say Goodbye to You,” landed on the charts in 1981, and her final album, Imagination, was released in 1983. Her career in film endured into the 2000s, coming to an end with the crime-comedy The Perfect Host (2010).