Australian singer, actress, and activist who skyrocketed to superstardom in 1972 with her Grammy winning song, “I Am Woman,” which became the anthem for the second wave of the feminist movement. At the Grammy awards ceremony, Reddy concluded her acceptance speech by famously thanking God “because She makes everything possible”. The success of “I Am Woman” made Reddy the first Australian singer to top the U.S. charts.
She released ten gold and platinum record hits, including “Angie Baby,” “Delta Dawn,” and “You and Me Against The World.” For her second career, she appeared in the starring role in the Disney film “Pete’s Dragon.”
Reddy was born into an Australian show business family, the daughter of an actress and began performing professionally in vaudeville while still a kid. After winning a singing contest in Australia, she moved to the U.S. and cut her first single with Capitol Records. Experimenting on her own with songwriting, she put forth the international No.1 single “I Am Woman” in 1971, which launched her career into international success over the next decade.
Taking “down time” in the ’80s, Reddy established her own company, “Helen Reddy, Inc.,” to write and produce a film based on the settling of Australia, focusing on her ancestor who arrived there in the late 1700s on a convict ship from England. During this time period she explored occult teachings and became a fervent believer in reincarnation.
With her solid success, Reddy returned to her theatrical roots in the ’90s, appearing in Los Angeles, London and New York in musical productions including “Blood Brothers,” “Call Me Madam,” “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” and “Anything Goes.” Expanding her talent, she starred in a touring company in the one-woman play “Shirley Valentine.” “I like to work live. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of a live audience. I like the element of risk.”
In 1966, she won a trip to New York, where she met her first husband, Jerry Wald. Reddy made three marriages that all ended in divorce. She was the mother of two adult children, Traci and Jordan, and maintained homes in Santa Monica, California and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In April 2001, Reddy made another major life change, selling her California home of 17 years and moving to tiny Norfolk Island, east of Australia, before taking up residence in Sydney. She was a certified hypnotist and hypnotherapist with a private practice and a private lifestyle.
In August 2015, unnamed sources revealed that Reddy was diagnosed with dementia and had moved into the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Samuel Goldwyn Center in Los Angeles where she was cared for by family and friends. Reddy died in Los Angeles on 29 September 2020 at age 78.
Link to Wikipedia biography