Some of the most famous women in Australian music paid tribute to the late Helen Reddy at the ARIA Awards 2020 in Sydney on Wednesday.
Jessica Mauboy lead the group performance of Reddy’s feminist anthem, I Am Woman, which included Amy Shark, Marcia Hines and Tones and I.
They were joined on stage by Kate Ceberano, country music trio The McClymonts and Montaigne.
Tribute: Delta Goodrem (pictured), Jessica Mauboy, Tones and I and Marcia Hines ROARED as they delivered a rousing rendition of Helen Reddy’s feminist anthem I Am Woman at the ARIA Awards 2020 on Wednesday
Completing the onstage group was Christina Anu, The Wiggles’ Emma Watkins and award show host Delta Goodrem.
Behind the singers was a giant wall that featured a video link featuring other famous Australian female musicians.
Among those who joined in were Katie Noonan, Dami Im and Missy Higgins.
Honour: Jessica Mauboy lead the group performance of Reddy’s feminist anthem, I Am Woman
Special performance: She was joined on stage by ARIA award winners Amy Shark (left) and Tones and I (right)
Before the performance, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave a speech recalling the impact of Helen’s music on her when she was a young girl.
‘I was carried away by her power and potential as she sang, “You can bend but never break me because it only serves to make me more determined to achieve my final goal,” the former PM said.
Helen Reddy died at the age of 78 on September 30.
Bringing the soul: Marcia Hines wowed in a white dress as she lent her vocal prowess to the performance
On stage: Completing the onstage group was Christina Anu and The Wiggles’ Emma Watkins, who looked elegant in a blue frock
Reddy, best known for her empowering anthem I Am Woman, died in Los Angeles, five years after she was diagnosed with dementia.
The Melbourne-born songstress and trailblazing feminist – whose life was recently crafted into a biopic named after her most famous song – was also known for her hits Delta Dawn and Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady.
Reddy’s two children, Traci Donat and Jordan Sommers, announced their mother’s death on Facebook.
Joining in: Behind the singers was a giant wall that featured a video link featuring other famous Australian female musicians. Among those who joined in were Katie Noonan, Dami Im and Missy Higgins
‘I was carried away by her power and potential’: Before the performance, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave a speech recalling the impact of Helen’s music on her when she was a young girl
They wrote in a joint statement: ‘It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Helen Reddy, on the afternoon of September 29, 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.’
Since her dementia diagnosis in 2015, Reddy had been living in a nursing home in LA for retired Hollywood talent.
The loss of an icon: Australian singer and trailblazing feminist icon Helen Reddy (pictured in January 2019) died in Los Angeles on Tuesday after battling dementia for years. She was 78
Reddy was a pioneer behind the women’s rights movement of the 1970s, and her death comes just months after the Stan biopic I Am Woman depicted the many social changes her music inspired throughout her career.
Her hit song I Am Woman became an anthem for the movement, but success didn’t come easy for Reddy, who had to convince record executives of its value.
She also had to fight for fair pay, after learning her all-male band was earning more money than she was.
Changes: Reddy was a pioneer behind the women’s rights movement of the 1970s, and her death comes just months after the biopic I Am Woman depicted the many social changes her music inspired throughout her career