Anxious to find a career in singing, Helen dropped out of high school to pursue her dream.

[2] She soon returned to New York City, where she visited song publishers and performed an audition for a 15-minute slot for a local radio show.

She told the Pop Chronicles radio series: "Benny would look right above your eyebrows, in the middle, right on top of the brow.

"[6][10] After leaving Goodman, Forrest briefly recorded with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton.

In his book, The Big Bands, Simon explained that Harry James constructed "the arrangements around his horn and Helen's voice, establishing warmer moods by slowing down the tempo so that two, instead of the usual three or more choruses, would fill a record ...many an arrangement would build to a closing climax during Helen's vocal, so that she would emerge as its star."

It was with the Harry James Orchestra that Helen recorded what are arguably her most popular numbers, including "I Had the Craziest Dream" in 1942, and 1941's "I Don't Want to Walk Without You."

In 1942, Helen also appeared with the Harry James Band in the Hollywood film Springtime in the Rockies, starring Betty Grable.

Forrest left Harry James in late 1943 in pursuit of a solo career, saying "three years with a band is enough.

[2][6] Helen's first Decca disc, "Time Waits For No One",[12] reached second place on the Hit Parade, and the radio show achieved top ratings.

[14] During the 1970s and 1980s, Forrest performed in supper clubs on "big band nostalgia" tours, including appearances with Harry James and Dick Haymes.

This led to a touring production called The Fabulous 40s (1978), followed in 1979 with a similar revue entitled The Big Broadcast of 1944.

In 1980, six months following Haymes' death, Helen suffered a stroke, but recovered to resume performing and recording.

[15][16] She also starred with Vivian Blaine and Margaret Whiting in a stage revue titled A Tribute to Dick Haymes.

[6] Despite an unhappy childhood, frequent illness, and personal disappointments, Forrest remained dedicated to her musical profession and continued singing until the early 1990s when rheumatoid arthritis began to affect her vocal chords and forced her into retirement.

[17] Helen Forrest died on July 11, 1999, from congestive heart failure at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.

[6] She was laid to rest at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, in an temporary marker.

[2] The relationship ended shortly before James met the woman he would later marry, actress Betty Grable.

We did not know that we were living through an era - the Big Band Era - that would last only 10 years or so and be remembered and revered for ever...it's hard to believe, but the best times were packed into a five-year period from the late 1930s through the early 1940s when I sang with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James.

[18] In addition, AllMusic describes Forrest as "a performer that some might not consider a jazz vocalist, but one with exceptional ability to project lyrics and also an excellent interpreter."

Also, IMDb describes Forrest: "though Helen was not, perhaps, a jazz singer in the truest sense, she brought to her songs a wistful 'girl-next-door' quality" through her "femininity and warmth of her voice and the clear, emotional phrasing of her lyrics."

In his book The Big Bands, writer George Simon wrote, "Helen was a wonderfully warm and natural singer."