Australian singer Helen Reddy has died at the age of 78,according to a statement on Facebook from her children Traci Donat and Jordan Sommers: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Helen Reddy, on the afternoon of September 29th 2020 in Los Angeles. She was a wonderful Mother, Grandmother and a truly formidable woman. Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever.”
Deadline reports: “Born on October 25, 1941, in Melbourne; Reddy came from a showbiz family and made her debut onstage at age 4. She first hit the U.S. charts in 1971 with ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him,’ Mary Magdalene’s big song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. About 16 months and a couple of minor hits later, she hit No. 1 in the U.S. and Canada with ‘I Am Woman,’ a pro-feminism song she co-wrote with Ray Burton. It propelled her to international stardom and became an unofficial anthem of the women’s rights movement of the 1970s.”
Rolling Stone adds: “Her other Number One bowing hits, include her rendition of Alex Harvey’s ‘Delta Dawn’ and Alan O’Day’s ‘Angie Baby.’ In 1974, she garnered a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reports: “At a time when a woman could not get a credit card or a mortgage in her own name, Reddy emerged to become one of the world’s highest paid entertainers. Diagnosed with dementia in 2015, she had been living in a nursing home for retired Hollywood talents in Los Angeles.”
