Everyone at the Addison's Disease Self-Help Group wishes to extend their sincere and heartfelt condolences to Helen Reddy’s family, after she sadly passed away yesterday (Tuesday 29 September 2020) aged 78 years old.

The Australian-born singer is an activist and the beautiful voice behind the 1972 feminist anthem "I Am Woman". Going on to record 18 albums, 7 of which went gold, she demonstrated the power of song and music to inspire a progressive movement. At the height of her fame in 1976 aged 35, she was diagnosed with Addison’s disease and went on to become the patron of the Australian Addison’s Disease Association.

In 2009, we were honoured to have a personal interview with Helen Reddy during one of her visits to London. When speaking about her Addison's, she shares:

"Addison’s can teach us patience and that it’s ok to be tired sometimes. So I’ll assert myself, decide I’m going home from this dinner because I’m tired, even if nobody understands because with the tan I look well. On the other hand, it’s not long ago that I went rock-climbing in Brazil! I don’t allow it to interfere with what I want to do.”

The full interview was first published in the December 2009 edition of the ADSHG newsletter. It is available to read in our member forum (log-in required). Out of respect for Helen the full interview remains available to read on a member only basis and we are incredibly grateful to Helen's team for the conversations the ADSHG is currently having with them during this difficult time about more we can do together to raise awareness of Addison's. We will keep members updated! If you are not yet a member of our charity, please click here to join.

We honour Helen Reddy’s remarkable life. Rest in peace and power and thank you for being an inspiration to so many.

Here at ADSHG HQ we are delighted to hear that Helen Reddy’s life has been made into a feature-film biography titled, “I Am Woman.” The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and will be released in UK and Irish cinemas along with On-Demand from 9th October 2020. You can watch the trailer below!