Helen Reddy Songs: 13 Hits Played, 3 at Number One

By Charlie · Published October 14, 2026

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Helen Reddy songs were on the radio all through the first half of the 70s.

Three of them, I Am Woman, Delta Dawn and Angie Baby, reached number one on the Hot 100.

This page plays thirteen of them, from I Don't Know How to Love Him to You're My World.

Six reached the Hot 100's top ten, and I Am Woman became an anthem of the women's movement.

She wrote one of them herself, and found the rest in other singers' records.

Press Play on every hit below, then read the story behind each one.

Helen Reddy in a 1975 publicity portrait by Francesco Scavullo.

Image credit: publicity photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Helen Reddy Songs: Play All 13 Hits

Here are thirteen hits from 1971 to 1977, from I Don't Know How to Love Him to You're My World.

Seven sit on a Billboard Year-End Hot 100, and six more charted weekly without making a year-end list.

Press Play on any row to watch it here, and tap a heading to sort.

Released is the year each song came out, per Wikipedia.

Year-End List and Year-End Rank show which year-end list a song is on, and its rank there.

A blank means it is on none.

Hot 100 Peak is the weekly peak, from each song's Wikipedia article.

The three number ones are the Hot 100 chart toppers in this site's weekly chart data.

Helen Reddy Songs on the Charts: Three Number Ones, Six Top Tens

The Helen Reddy songs of the 70s were hits on the pop charts and even bigger hits on the adult contemporary chart.

Three reached number one on the Hot 100, and this site's weekly data gives each of them one week at the top.

I Am Woman held the top spot in the week starting December 9, 1972.

Delta Dawn held it in the week starting September 15, 1973.

Angie Baby held it in the week starting December 28, 1974.

Hot 100 peaks of the thirteen hits on this page, from each song's Wikipedia article.

What the Chart Numbers Say

Six of the thirteen hits on this page reached the Hot 100's top ten.

• I Am Woman, Delta Dawn and Angie Baby reached number one in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
• Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress) came closest after that, stopping at number three in 1973.
• Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady stopped at number eight and You and Me Against the World at number nine.
• Delta Dawn ranks #14 on the 1973 Year-End Hot 100, the best year-end rank of any song here, ahead of Angie Baby at #28 on the 1975 list.
• Wikipedia counts 15 top 40 singles on the Hot 100 for Reddy, and 25 Adult Contemporary entries with eight number ones.

From Melbourne to Capitol Records: How Helen Reddy Got Her Start

The story behind the Helen Reddy songs starts in Melbourne, Australia.

Wikipedia says she was born Helen Maxine Reddy on October 25, 1941, into a show business family.

She arrived in New York in 1966 after winning a talent contest on the TV show Bandstand.

Los Angeles and a Manager

In 1968 she married Jeff Wald, who became her manager.

The couple moved to Chicago, then to Los Angeles around 1969.

Wald pressed Capitol Records executive Artie Mogull for a single.

Capitol was the label under which her stardom developed.

The B-Side That Started Everything

Capitol chose I Believe in Music as the A-side, with I Don't Know How to Love Him on the flip.

The A-side flopped, but Canadian disc jockeys championed the B-side.

Wikipedia says it reached number 13 in Canada in June 1971.

1971 and 1972: I Don't Know How to Love Him and I Am Woman

Her first two big Helen Reddy songs show how different her starting points were.

One came from a rock opera, and the other she wrote herself.

I Don't Know How to Love Him

I Don't Know How to Love Him was released in January 1971, as the B-side of I Believe in Music.

Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music and Tim Rice the lyrics, for the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

In the show, Mary Magdalene sings it.

Larry Marks produced Reddy's version, and Wikipedia says she did not care for the song.

She agreed to record it only as the flip side to the song she wanted to cut.

It reached number 13 on the Hot 100 and number 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and it ranks #50 on the 1971 Year-End Hot 100.

Yvonne Elliman's cast version reached number 28 the same year.

I Am Woman

Reddy and Ray Burton wrote I Am Woman, the best known of all the Helen Reddy songs.

Reddy said she could not find any songs that said what being a woman was about.

She wrote the lyric the next day and gave it to Burton, who set it to music.

Burton remembers it differently, and says he reworked some lines.

Reddy insists he did not change a word.

She first recorded it for her 1971 debut album.

She cut it again on April 23, 1972, with Jay Senter producing, and Capitol released that version as a single in May 1972.

From Barely Charting to Number One

The single entered the Hot 100 at number 99 in the June 24, 1972 issue.

It re-entered at number 87 in the September 16, 1972 issue, after listeners made it an anthem.

It reached number one in the December 9, 1972 issue, and this site's weekly data gives it one week at the top.

• Wikipedia says it was the first number one for Capitol since 1967.
• It was the first Billboard number one by an Australian-born artist.
• It reached number two on the Adult Contemporary chart, number two in Australia and number one in Canada.
• The RIAA certified it gold for one million units.

The Grammy and the Anthem

It won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards, in 1973.

In her acceptance speech she thanked God, "because She makes everything possible."

Betty Friedan wrote that at a 1973 National Organization for Women gala in Washington, the song was played and women danced and sang along.

An instrumental arrangement of it was the exit music for Kathryn Bigelow at the 82nd Academy Awards, after she won Best Director.

Wikipedia says the 1972 recording joined the US National Recording Registry in 2025.

1973: Peaceful, Delta Dawn and Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)

1973 gave Helen Reddy songs two more Hot 100 hits and her second number one.

Delta Dawn ranks #14 on the 1973 Year-End Hot 100, and Peaceful ranks #81.

Peaceful

Peaceful was released in early 1973, as the follow-up to I Am Woman, from the album I Am Woman.

Kenny Rankin wrote it, and Tom Catalano produced Reddy's version.

Rankin first put it on his 1967 album Mind Dusters, Bobbie Gentry recorded it in 1968, and Georgie Fame had the first hit in 1969.

Reddy's version reached number 12 on the Hot 100 in May 1973, and number two on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It was number one for two weeks on Canada's Adult Contemporary chart.

For a random song from the same decade, try the Random 70s Song Generator.

Delta Dawn

Delta Dawn was released in June 1973, from the album Long Hard Climb.

Larry Collins and Alex Harvey wrote it.

Harvey recorded the first version, on his album Alex Harvey in November 1971.

Tanya Tucker's version reached number six on the country chart in 1972, and Bette Midler recorded it for The Divine Miss M.

The Story Behind the Song

Harvey said he wrote it about his mother, who lived as if she were always about to leave.

Years earlier he had told her not to attend one of his television performances.

She died in a car crash that night, which Harvey believed was suicide caused by his rejection.

He considered the song an apology and a thank-you.

Number One on the Hot 100

Reddy's version entered the Hot 100's top ten on August 18, 1973, and reached number one on September 15, 1973.

This site's weekly data gives it one week at the top.

It also topped the Adult Contemporary chart, the first of six in a row for her.

The RIAA certified it gold, and Wikipedia says it went gold in Australia and New Zealand too.

The week it rose is one of the stories on the page about 70s number one hits.

Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)

Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress) was released in October 1973, from Long Hard Climb.

Linda Laurie wrote it and first recorded it for MCA Records in summer 1973.

Tom Catalano produced Reddy's version, and Capitol issued it as the follow-up to Delta Dawn.

It reached number three on the Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It ranks #71 on the 1974 Year-End Hot 100.

The RIAA certified it gold, her third gold single in the US.

Wikipedia says Reddy felt it was too similar to Delta Dawn in theme and found the chorus monotonous.

1974: Keep on Singing, You and Me Against the World and Angie Baby

Helen Reddy songs in 1974 included her third number one, and two that sat at the top of the adult contemporary chart.

Keep on Singing

Keep on Singing was released in February 1974, as the lead single from Love Song for Jeffrey.

Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart wrote it, and Tom Catalano produced it.

Austin Roberts recorded it first, and his single reached number 50 on the Hot 100 in 1973.

Reddy's version reached number 15 on the Hot 100 in May 1974, and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It reached number 10 in Canada.

To find the next artist to try, spin the Random Artist Picker.

You and Me Against the World

You and Me Against the World was released in May 1974, the second single from Love Song for Jeffrey.

Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher wrote it.

It reached number nine on the Hot 100 in September 1974, and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It ranks #57 on the 1974 Year-End Hot 100.

A Voice Calling Mommy

The voice of Reddy's daughter Traci calls "Mommy" at the start and end of the record.

Wikipedia says Reddy sang it as a mother singing to her child.

Gladys Knight and the Pips, Johnny Mathis, Vera Lynn and Paul Williams also recorded it.

Find a mood for it with the Mood Song Matcher.

Angie Baby

Alan O'Day wrote Angie Baby, and Joe Wissert produced Reddy's version, from the album Free and Easy.

The B-side was I Think I'll Write a Song.

It reached number one on the Hot 100 on December 28, 1974, and this site's weekly data gives it one week at the top.

It ranks #28 on the 1975 Year-End Hot 100, because most of its run came in 1975.

Helen Reddy singing at the White House on January 27, 1976.

Image credit: Ricardo Thomas, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A Story Song with Many Readings

The song follows a teenage girl who is pulled out of school, has no friends and daydreams about lovers from the radio.

A neighbor boy comes to seduce her, but the loud music disorients him.

When she turns the volume down, he shrinks and is pulled into the radio.

Nobody asks her what happened, and the song suggests he became her secret lover.

O'Day said it took three months to write and was loosely based on the character in the Beatles' Lady Madonna.

Reddy never said what her own reading was, and she enjoyed hearing the theories.

She joked that the boy had become a sound wave.

She also said it was the one song she never had to push radio stations to play.

Number One Around the World

It reached number five in the UK and in Ireland, number three in Canada and number one on Cash Box.

It was also number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, her fifth.

Wikipedia says it was her only UK top 40 hit.

The page on pop songs of the 70s shows where it sits among the decade's pop hits.

1975 to 1977: Emotion, Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady and More

The last years of the decade gave Helen Reddy songs five more Hot 100 hits, none of them number one.

Four of them were on the Adult Contemporary chart's top two.

Emotion

Emotion was released in January 1975, from Free and Easy, with Joe Wissert producing.

It started as Amoureuse, a French song by Véronique Sanson.

Elektra executive Artie Wayne sent Sanson's album to Patti Dahlstrom, who wrote the English lyric.

Dahlstrom has said it came to her quickly after she had carried the melody in her head for weeks.

Kiki Dee had cut an English version in 1973.

Reddy's version reached number 22 on the Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It is on no 1970s year-end list, so its peak above is a weekly peak only.

Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady

Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady was released in August 1975, as the title song of the album No Way to Treat a Lady.

Harriet Schock wrote it, and Joe Wissert produced it.

It reached number eight on the Hot 100, number one on the Adult Contemporary chart in October 1975 and number two in Canada.

A Napkin on a Flight Home

Schock wrote it as she was leaving a self-absorbed lover.

She got the title and first verse on a napkin during a flight home from Las Vegas.

She finished the song at her Los Angeles home, and put her own version on her 1974 album Hollywood Town.

The softer side of the decade has its own page, 70s soft rock.

Somewhere in the Night

Somewhere in the Night was released in December 1975, as the follow-up to Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady.

Richard Kerr and Will Jennings wrote it, and Joe Wissert produced it.

It reached number 19 on the Hot 100 and number two on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Barry Manilow recorded it in 1978 for the album Even Now, and his single reached number nine on the Hot 100.

It is on no 1970s year-end list for Reddy, so her peak above is a weekly peak only.

His own hits are on the page for Barry Manilow songs.

I Can't Hear You No More

I Can't Hear You No More was released in 1976, from the album Music, Music.

Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote it, and Joe Wissert produced it.

Betty Everett recorded it first, as I Can't Hear You, on May 13, 1964.

Lulu, Dusty Springfield and Carole King herself later recorded it too.

Reddy's version reached number 29 on the Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It is on no 1970s year-end list, so its peak above is a weekly peak only.

You're My World

You're My World was released on April 4, 1977, from the album Ear Candy.

It began as Il mio mondo, an Italian ballad by Umberto Bindi that he recorded in 1963.

Carl Sigman wrote the English words, and Cilla Black had a hit with that version in 1964.

Kim Fowley and Earle Mankey produced Reddy's remake.

It reached number 18 on the Hot 100 in July 1977, and number five on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It ranks #56 on the 1977 Year-End Hot 100.

Wikipedia names it as her last top 40 hit.

Test your memory of the decade with the 70s Music Trivia Quiz.

Beyond the Charts: Television, Film and Awards

Reddy was a television host and film actor as well as a singer.

Wikipedia lists these milestones from the decade, alongside the Helen Reddy songs above.

• 1973: The Helen Reddy Show, an eight-episode summer replacement for The Flip Wilson Show, with Reddy as hostess.
• 1974: She won the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the first ceremony.
• 1974: She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 23.
• 1974: She played a nun in the film Airport 1975, and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer, Female.
• 1975: She toured East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and collected 16 gold records.
• 1975 and 1976: She was a semiregular host of The Midnight Special.
• 1977: She starred in Pete's Dragon, and introduced the Oscar-nominated song Candle on the Water.

Wikipedia says she was the first Australian to host a weekly one-hour prime-time variety show on an American network.

Songs from Outside Writers: Who Sang Each Helen Reddy Song First

Reddy wrote one of the thirteen Helen Reddy songs on this page, and took the rest from other writers.

Many of them began as records by other singers, as the table shows.

For more voices from the decade, read the page on 70s female singers.

Writers Behind the Hits

Several of her hits came from writers with hits of their own.

• Alex Harvey: Delta Dawn.
• Alan O'Day: Angie Baby.
• Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher: You and Me Against the World.
• Gerry Goffin and Carole King: I Can't Hear You No More.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice: I Don't Know How to Love Him.

Who Wrote and Released Each of the Helen Reddy Songs

The table lists when each of the thirteen Helen Reddy songs was released, on which album, and who wrote it.

Keep Exploring

Reddy gave the decade three number ones and a long run of adult contemporary hits.

Six of the thirteen reached the top ten.

The page on Elton John tells the story of another act that ruled the decade's pop charts.

Sources

Year-end ranks come from this site's own Billboard data, described on the methodology page.

Every list on Music of the 70s plays inside the page.

Peaks, dates and stories behind the Helen Reddy songs above can be checked against these outside sources:

• Wikipedia: Helen Reddy and her discography for the biography, albums, singles and chart peaks.
• Wikipedia: I Don't Know How to Love Him and I Am Woman for 1971 and 1972.
• Wikipedia: Peaceful, Delta Dawn and Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress) for 1973.
• Wikipedia: Keep on Singing, You and Me Against the World and Angie Baby for 1974.
• Wikipedia: Emotion, Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady, Somewhere in the Night, I Can't Hear You No More and You're My World for 1975 to 1977.

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