With every song in the new movie I Am Woman being not only superb, but close enough to the original to please most Helen Reddy fans, one of the songs that is standout for me, at least, is Chelsea Cullen’s ‘I Am Woman‘.
That song is probably the one Helen Reddy is known for the most, especially as it became somewhat of an anthem for millions of women around the world for decades after its initial release.
‘I Am Woman‘ is the new movie based on the life of Australian singer Helen Reddy.
A huge star in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, Reddy eventually lost the popularity she used to have and disappeared into somewhat obscurity after deciding she was going to retire from singing in the early 2000s.
The movie, however, has other ideas about wanting to promote Reddy’s music and so is full of songs that, if you lived in the 1970s, you will not only immediately remember but likely love.
I Am Woman stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Helen Reddy, was written by Emma Jensen and directed by Unjoo Moon. Reddy’s singing voice is provided by Australian pop singer Chelsea Cullen.
In other words, an all-female team that has produced an excellent film and superb songs throughout.
The film includes most of Reddy’s hit songs — tracks like Delta Dawn, I Don’t Know How to Love Him, Angie Baby and You and Me Against the World.
It also tells the story of Helen Reddy’s not too happy life married to then-husband and manager Jeff Wald, a drug addict who could be quite abusive.
According to Reddy years later, even when she divorced Wald after more than 13 years of marriage, he then spent the next few years destroying many of the singing and recording opportunities she had as he would threaten the people offering her work.
Listen to Chelsea Cullen’s version of ‘I Am Woman‘ (1989 version) in the video below.
And, while she did an amazing job with every track, I still would have loved to hear some of Helen Reddy’s originals in the film as well.
You can currently watch I Am Woman in select theaters (see trailer below) and on various streaming services.
The entire excellent soundtrack is in the Spotify player below.