Helen Reddy

Australian singer and actress (1941–2020)

Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 1941 – 29 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, songwriter and actress.

I certainly didn’t see myself as being dainty.

Quotes

edit
 
My basic audience is women who have had their heads turned around by the knowledge that something’s going on out there—that they can stay married and have their own identities.
 
I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman

Chicago Tribune interview (March 2013)

edit

"Helen Reddy ready to roar again", by Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune, 13 March 2013

  • "I’d gotten involved in the Women’s Movement, and there were a lot of songs on the radio about being weak and being dainty and all those sort of things. All the women in my family, they were strong women. They worked. They lived through the Depression and a world war, and they were just strong women. I certainly didn’t see myself as being dainty."
    • On her motivation to write a renowned song, "I Am Woman"
  • I’m bothered by all these talent shows because it keeps people who are professional out of work, and these poor souls that are going on there are not getting paid, and people like Rupert Murdoch are making lots of money that they shouldn’t be.
    • On talent shows such as American Idol and The Voice

Freeman interview (September 2012)

edit

"HELEN REDDY: SHE’S A WOMAN READY TO PERFORM AGAIN!" Paul Freeman, Pop Culture Classics, September 2012

  • Movie-making is not my favorite medium, because you’re on the set for 12 hours and you might only film for three minutes. It’s very much hurry up and wait. So, although I loved doing the film, it wasn’t quite what I expected.
    • On her experience in filming Pete's Dragon
  • There’s a moment before I walk out on stage, where it’s like electricity. And then you just go out there and it’s home. The stage is home to me.
    • On her connection to the stage
  • ...I don’t think of myself as a pop star. I started out as a jazz singer. And I love having the chance to just jump in and sing songs that touch me or move me.
    • On her comeback to singing before a live audience with "album cuts"

The Woman I Am: A Memoir (2006)

edit

Reddy, Helen (2006). The Woman I Am. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-58542-489-4. 

  • As a moral issue, abortion will be debated as long as humankind is able to debate. I respect all points of view as being valid to the holder. What concerns me is abortion as a legal and political issue. I am against all reproductive laws for the same reason I am against the draft. I believe that legal ownership of one’s body is the most basic civil and human right. Without it, we are all slaves to whatever government is in power at any given time.
    • On abortion, pg. 184.
  • The number-one rule for a celebrity is keep moving.
    • On handling fame, pg. 183-84
  • History will be much kinder to Richard Nixon than his contemporaries have been. Truths will come to light that will reveal him to be a more honorable man than some who have come to that office after him.
    • On the legacy of then-American president Richard Nixon and his successors, pg. 217

Lyrics

edit

"I Don't Know How To Love Him"(1971)

edit
  • Oh yes, I am wise
    But it's wisdom born of pain
    Yes, I've paid the price
    But look how much I gained
    If I have to, I can do anything
    I am strong
    I am invincible
    I am woman
  • Would you take better care of yourself
    Would you be kinder to yourself
    Would you be more forgiving of your human imperfections
    If you realized your best friend was yourself
    • "Best Friend"; written and sung by Reddy

Quotes about Reddy

edit
  • She was an office girl ("My name is Betty")
    Her fav'rite group was Helen Reddy
    • Frank Zappa
    • As quoted in "Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me?" from album Zappa in New York (1978)
  • I definitely knew her song, "I Am Woman." I didn't know a lot more than that. I'm so thrilled that I got to learn a whole lot more about her over this process. I now am her biggest fan and I could probably start a museum, I’ve done enough research on her. That's what's really interesting, is that not a lot of people in my generation know a lot about her life. But that being said, her song "I Am Woman," the words are on most placards at any women's march. Her story is so incredible, and to look back and honour all the amazing work she did, and what she did for women and just the music industry in general. I mean, she had four gold records in a year. She was the first Australian to win a Grammy, and people don't know that. So it feels like a really lovely thing to be able to share that.
edit

Official Helen Reddy website

 
Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about:
 
Commons
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: