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Helen Reddy

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Helen Reddy was an Australian-American singer, actress, presenter and activist, born on 25 October 1941 in Melbourne into a theatrical family. Her mother was an actress, singer and dancer, her father a writer, producer and actor. She was on stage at the age of four. In 1966 she won a talent contest on the programme Bandstand, the prize being a trip to New York and an audition. The audition came to nothing. She ended up, via Chicago, in Los Angeles, where her first singles appeared in 1968 and 1970. The B-side of the second, I Don't Know How to Love Him, did well, and a year later she signed with Capitol Records.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1970s she had international success, especially in the United States: fifteen singles reached the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100, and three went to number one. Her best-known song is I Am Woman, from 1972, which became an anthem of second-wave feminism. She became a feminist figurehead. In 1974, at the first American Music Awards, she won the award for favourite female pop and rock artist. On television she became the first Australian to host a weekly hour-long prime-time show on an American network.

Influence

In the 1980s and 1990s she appeared in musicals. In 2002 she stopped performing. She studied, worked as a hypnotherapist and returned to the stage in 2011. Reddy died on 29 September 2020.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to I Am Woman. Notice how calmly and confidently she sings the chorus, and what that tone does to the lyrics.

Discography

Studio albums

See also

Categories: Artists