The daughter of late Aussie Helen Reddy has paid tribute to the legendary singer one day after her death.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Traci Wald Donat thanked her mother for being the feminist icon that she was and showing her how to live life fearlessly.
"To the woman who taught me to be fierce and uncompromising. Who raised me to be kind and to advocate for others. Who lived her life wholeheartedly and without fear. My heart is broken but I am filled with gratitude for the many gifts she gave me, and so many women. Safe travels sweet mom," the 57-year-old wrote alongside a throwback photo of the pair.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFxO7-QBLlc/It was Donat and her brother, Jordan Sommers, 47, who announced the death of Reddy yesterday, aged 78. At the time of her death, the singer was residing in an assisted living facility in LA after her reported dementia diagnosis in 2015.
"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," Donat and Sommers said in a statement on the Helen Reddy Official Fan Page.
"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."
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Sommers was Reddy's son from her second marriage to her former manager Jeff Wald. The singer shared Donat with her first husband, Kenneth Weate, who she was married to from 1961 to 1966.
After their divorce, Reddy flew to New York to pursue a musical career and she took her daughter with her. Donat was just three years old at the time and mother and daughter only had $200 to their name.
READ MORE: Helen Reddy's ex-husband Jeff Wald speaks out following her death
"I arrive in New York, I had my daughter, three years old at the time, and $230 in cash and everything I could fit into two suitcases," Reddy told 60 Minutes back in 1979.
"Somebody from the record company took me to lunch and said, 'Have a nice time while you're in New York and do give us a call before you go back [to Australia].' They said, 'Somebody from Australia sent us a tape of your voice and we're really not interested.'
"And I found out later there was no tape and that was a complete lie. They just wanted to get rid of me. Not so easily done, however."
https://www.facebook.com/60Minutes9/posts/3213340532068573Through sheer perseverance, success followed and Reddy scored three number-one hits — 'I Am Woman', 'Delta Dawn', and 'Angie Baby' — and another dozen songs made the Top 40 in the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
She became the first Australian pop or rock singer to win a Grammy and was also the first Aussie to land her own primetime variety show in the US.
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