Her father was a pharmacist, Tom Watts and moved to live above his shop at 26 Market Street, Haverfordwest, Wales as a child.
"[5] The many recordings by Helen Watts included a "monumental" edition of forty Bach cantatas, with Helmuth Rilling conducting the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart.
She also made several recordings as a soloist in Handel's Messiah, various roles in Wagner's Ring cycle, and an album of Welsh songs with the Treorchy male voice choir.
[4] She was asked to choose her favourite record, book, and luxury as a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 1970.
[2] Helen Watts married Michael Mitchell, a viola player with the London Symphony Orchestra, in 1980.