Helen Reddy

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

• I would like to thank Jeff Wald because he makes my success possible, and I would like to thank God because She makes everything possible.
  • Broadcast of 15th Annual Grammy Awards, directed by Marty Pasetta for CBS, 3 March 1973
• That's a pig show. The lowest.
  • On why she refused to appear on the Dean Martin Show, as quoted from: Cohn, Ellen. She is Woman, She is Helen Reddy, The New York Times. 24 June 1973
• We have to keep everybody happy. This is a house full of big egos.
  • On the counterfeit gold record of her 1974 single "You and Me Against the World", as quoted in "Helen Reddy Sings Out for Women's Lib—but Jeffrey Calls the Tune" by Robert Windeler, People Magazines, 3 February 1975
• (The Queen of Housewife Rock) means I’ve reached a lot of people in a simplistic manner who would never go to a lecture or read an article on Women’s Lib. 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’m not for the swinging singles. I have a career and marriage happening all at the same time, and that’s the example I set.
  • On the title Alice Cooper gave to her, as quoted in "Helen Reddy Sings Out for Women's Lib—but Jeffrey Calls the Tune" by Robert Windeler, People Magazines, 3 February 1975
• Years back I didn't wear makeup or use a hairdresser. Then, about four years ago, I became very tired of the way men and the media were trying to present feminists - as drab, un-attractive, shrill and ugly. So I changed. Some feminists have criticized me for it, but there's a lot of compromise in this business.
  • On changing her image in 1975, as quoted in "Helen Reddy: The Feminist Symbol Whose Husband Manages Her Career", The Australian Women's Weekly (print), 16 May 1979, pg. 21
• The word failure is not in my vocabulary. I learn something every day. It's human to make mistakes.
  • On the incidents in her career in Las Vegas as quoted in "Reddy: Full Speed Ahead... and Back". Hawn, Jack, L. A. Times, 25 July 1987
• I believe that we are consciousness, consciousness is energy, and energy can never be destroyed. It can be transformed, but it can never be destroyed.
  • On reincarnation, as quoted in "AN INTERVIEW WITH HELEN REDDY" by Gary Barg, TheSilverPages.com, 22 April 2014

"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

"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"

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

• 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
  • "I Am Woman"; written and sung by Reddy

• 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

• 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.
  • Tilda Cobham-Hervey
  • On Helen Reddy's musicianship and her career
  • as quoted in 'I Am Woman' Star Tilda Cobham-Hervey Says Helen Reddy's Anthem 'Will Always Be Relevant to Women' by Karen Bliss, 6 September 2019, Billboard (Billboard.com)

Official Helen Reddy website

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