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Helen Reddy, ‘I Am Woman’ Singer and Activist, Dead at 78

Hear her roar. Photo: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Helen Reddy, singer, actress, and activist, best known for 1972’s “I Am Woman” has died. Her children, Traci Donat and Jordan Sommers, confirmed the news on her official Facebook page Tuesday. She was 78-years-old. ″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,” they wrote. “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.″

Australian-born Reddy grew up performing, but found success in the ’70s with hits “Delta Dawn,” “Angie Baby,” and “I Am Woman.” With lyrics like “I am woman, hear me roar,” “I Am Woman” became the unofficial anthem of the second-wave feminism and continues to empower a new generation. It can still be heard at women’s marches today. Reddy even attended one herself in 2017, introduced by Jamie Lee Curtis. In 1973, she won a Grammy for “I Am Woman” and famously thanked God in her speech “because She makes everything possible.″ Reddy went on to star in Disney’s Pete’s Dragon, earning an Oscar nomination for the song “Candle On the Water.” Her trailblazing life is the subject of biopic I Am Woman, which came out earlier this month. She is survived by her children as well as her granddaughter, Lily, who has a cameo in I Am Woman. 

Helen Reddy, ‘I Am Woman’ Singer and Activist, Dead at 78