AFTER spending the last few months in the South Pacific, Helen Reddy heads back to the United States stopping first in Honolulu where she'll perform tomorrow night in the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel's Maile Ballroom. Helen Reddy
in concert at
Kahala MandarinReddy most recently recorded a duet with sister Toni Lamond on Lamond's latest CD, "Still A Gypsy," singing "Breezin' Along With the Breeze," a traveling song of two sisters riding the open country in a convertible. It's the first time sisters have recorded together.
Reddy, 46, and born in Melbourne, Australia, is well known as a big-voiced interpreter of rock ballads. "I Am Woman," which she wrote and recorded, became a 1970's feminist anthem, winning her a Grammy Award.
Reddy was born to a show business family. She was a child performer who starred in her own television show before winning a trip to New York in an Australian talent show in 1966. An appearance on the "Tonight Show" led to a recording contract with Capitol and the 1971 hit single, "I Don't Know How To Love Him." The song from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" put her on the map.
Over the next five years, Reddy had a dozen other hit singles, including the modern country ballad "Delta Dawn" in 1973, and the chilling, dramatic "Angie Baby" the next year. Her 1976 song "I Can't Hear You No More" was composed by Carole King and Gerry Goffin while Reddy's final Top 20 record was a revival of Cilla Black's 1964 hit "You're My World." Today, Reddy makes frequent appearances in concert and with symphony orchestras.
Her newest album, "Center Stage" -- released last September -- is a meld of her distinctive recording sound with the Broadway songs she's claimed as her own.
Reddy, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif., remains active in community affairs, and served three years as commissioner of Parks and Recreation for California. And she even had a tulip named for her in Holland.
Reddy on stage
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
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