Helen Reddy Biography

Fast Facts

• Became the first Australian to win a Grammy Award when she won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Am Woman" in 1973
• Was the first Western female performer to be invited to sing in the People's Republic of China
• First achieved success with her 1971 hit cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him," a song from the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar․"
• Started out as a singer and dancer on the Australian vaudeville circuit with her parents when she was only 4 years old
• Quote: "(On retirement): "I was shown a modern American history high-school textbook, and a whole chapter on feminism - and my name and my lyrics (were) in the book․ And I thought, 'Well, I'm part of history now․ And how do I top that?'""
• Best known as an actress and singer who wrote the feminist anthem "I Am Woman․"
• During her retirement, she worked as a clinical hypnotherapist and a motivational speaker in Australia
• Retired from live performance in 2002 but returned to the stage ten years later, prompted by a duet she sang with her sister at her sister's 80th birthday party
• Was the first Australian to host her own primetime variety show on an American network, "The Helen Reddy Show," which debuted as a summer replacement series for "The Flip Wilson Show" in 1973
• Wrote her bestselling memoir "The Woman I Am," which describes the emotional struggles she went through at the height of her career