
Kenneth Weate is the ex-husband of Helen Reddy. Kenneth Weate’s ex-wife Helen was an Australian-American singer, songwriter, author, actress, and activist. She is known for her debut singles “One Way Ticket” and “I Believe in Music” in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Her hit song “I Am Woman” played a significant role in popular culture, becoming an anthem for second-wave feminism making her a “feminist icon”. In 2013, the Chicago Tribune dubbed Reddy the “Queen of ’70s Pop”.
Kenneth Weate: Bio Summary
Full Name | Kenneth Claude Weate |
Famous as | Ex-husband of Helen Reddy |
Date Married | 1961 |
Date Devorced | 1966 |
Children | Traci Wald Donat |
Who was Helen Reddy’s Ex-husband?
The late Australian songstress was married three times throughout her career. While building her career as an entertainer in clubs and restaurants around Australia in the early 1960s, Helen met her first husband, Kenneth Weate. She was just 19 years old at that time. The Midnight Special actress walked down the aisle with her lover in a beautiful wedding ceremony in 1961.
The couple’s marriage started on a good note when they welcomed their daughter, Traci Donat, but it wasn’t long before things took a different turn for them. Helen and Kenneth couldn’t hold their marriage together anymore and the only thing left was calling it a quit. Their divorce was finalized in early 1966 per Closer Weekly.
Following their marriage coming to an end, Helen gained full custody of their daughter, Traci, and the mother-daughter duo moved out of Australia and relocated to Los Angeles. Helen knew her relationship with her ex-husband Kenneth wasn’t meant to be and she let it go quickly.
The singer once referred to their marriage as “a very brief, very tempestuous affair” during an interview with The New York Times years following their divorce. “a very brief, very tempestuous affair,” she said “That marriage was nothing like this one” Helen and Kenneth were married for about five years before calling it a quit.
According to reports, Helen Reddy’s first husband Kenneth Weate also worked as a musician and singer during their relationship. However, there isn’t much else known about it.
ALSO, READ; Traci Wald Donat, Where is Helen Reddy’s daughter now?
Kenneth Weate however was a family friend, Helen said she wed to defy her parents, who wished her to follow them into show business. The couple separated not long after the birth of their daughter, Traci. According to Veteran Feminist America, Traci never knew her father.
By Helen’s early 20s, she was a single mum who enlisted the help of friends so she could continue her gigs. “I remember in Australia she had a roommate who would watch me when she was out working at night,” Kenneth Weate’s daughter Traci told the outlet.
Helen Reddy’s daughter continued to tell the outlet how they lived in extreme poverty- “Mum had cardboard in her shoes as makeshift soles, because she couldn’t afford new shoes. I remember her counting out change to get a glass of milk and she was two cents short, and the waitress was like, ‘I’m sorry” A kind stranger took pity on the young woman and her daughter and covered the bill. “We lived in extreme poverty,” Traci told Veteran Feminist America.

Kenneth Weate’s ex-wife, Reddy’s stardom was solidified when her single “I Am Woman” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1972. Reddy co-wrote the song with Ray Burton; Reddy attributed the impetus for writing “I Am Woman” and her early awareness of the women’s movement to expatriate Australian rock critic and pioneer feminist Lillian Roxon.
ALSO, READ; Traci Wald Donat, Where is Helen Reddy’s daughter now?
What happened to Helen Reddy’s Ex-husband?
Helen Reddy’s Ex-husband Kenneth Weate went totally out of the limelight after their marriage came to an end. The singer also didn’t speak much of him in any interview. After their marriage ended, Helen Reddy moved on and married her second husband Jeff Wald. Sadly, the Grammy winner’s second marriage also didn’t last as she and Jeff went their separate ways following after being together for 18 years.
She met her third husband Milton Ruth and said “I do” in 1983. Once again it didn’t work out as the pair split up following almost 12 years of marriage in 1995. The singer didn’t marry again as she went on to enjoy her life as a single mother and grandmother when she sadly died at age 78 in September 2020.
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