Richard Wilkins remembers Helen Reddy: 'She was always swimming against the tide'
Helen Reddy, who passed away today at 78, has been celebrated as a trailblazer — and it's an accolade Richard Wilkins whole-heartedly agrees with.
Nine's entertainment editor met the iconic Australian singer on several occasions and remembers her as "pretty feisty."
"She was a formidable person who said what she meant and meant what she said," Wilkins tells 9Honey, referring to how Reddy paved the way for Australian artists and made her mark as a feminist icon.
RELATED: Helen Reddy's life in pictures
Richard Wilkins remembers Australian singer Helen Reddy. Supplied
"Everyone was very much in awe of her because of what she achieved."
Wilkins recalls he first heard Reddy's anthem 'I Am Woman' as a university student.
Though he was more into the psychedelic rock that dominated the airwaves in the early 1970s, he knew the song was a hit for "all the right reasons."
"My ears pricked up to the song — I remember singing along to it, it was an instant hit" he says.
RELATED: The incredible legacy Helen Reddy leaves behind for women and girls
"She provided an anthem not only for Australia, but for the world." Redferns
Since the first time he heard it, Wilkins says the song solidified Reddy's space as a musical and feminist powerhouse, and has spanned generations.
"'I Am Woman' became an anthem for the times. It remains just as powerful and potent today with the ongoing fight for women's rights and equality," he says.
"She provided an anthem not only for Australia, but for the world."
Melbourne-born Reddy left Australia at the age of 17 after winning the televised talent contest on TV program Bandstand.
Armed with a one-way ticket to New York, Reddy was an"unlikely pop star", Wilkins says.
"She was a single mum who went on to amass a fortune and have her own television show. You don't see someone stand out like she did every day."
Though she struggled to get her musical career off the ground, Reddy persevered and released her debut single 'One Way Ticket' in 1968.
It was in 1971, at the height of the second wave feminist movement, that 'I Am Woman' catapulted her to fame.
RELATED: Celebrities pay tribute to I Am Woman singer Helen Reddy
"Every artist has a signature song, and that was hers," Wilkins says.
"But it wasn't just that song that made her powerful. She was always swimming against the tide."
Wilkins says Reddy rose to fame at a time when music labels were rejecting female solo singers and turning their focus to bands and group acts.
While accepting her Grammy in 1973, Reddy famously thanked "God, because she makes everything possible". YouTube/Getty
Still, her singles topped the charts, winning her numerous awards.
She became the first Australian to win a Grammy Award and to host a weekly US prime time television show.
RELATED: Helen Reddy's ex-husband Jeff Wald speaks out following her death
While accepting her Grammy in 1973, Reddy famously thanked "God, because SHE makes everything possible".
For all her success, Wilkins says Reddy's biggest achievement was showing her fellow Australians they could truly "take on the world".
"She showed generations of Aussies... 'We can do anything'."
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