Florence Foster was the daughter of a successful Pennsylvania banker. She loved music, and wanted to study abroad before attempting to sing professionally. Her staid father believed that women belonged at home, however, so he refused to foot the bill. Florence married a young doctor named Frank Jenkins, but the couple divorced in 1902. Her father passed away in 1909, and between her alimony and inheritance, Florence was now a very wealthy young lady.

She used her acquired fortune to finance her dream, that of becoming an opera star. She studied singing for a time, and then performed her first concert, at her own expense, for a select audience. Despite the fact that her voice was something short of mediocre, she proceeded to perform regularly in the ballroom of New York’s Ritz Carlton, usually to a sold-out audience. Originally, her concerts were by invitation only, and audiences were made up of her society friends and club matrons. But word of Madame Jenkins’ unique talent spread, and soon she was a bona fide star.

Audiences reacted in various ways; some laughed until tears rolled down their cheeks, others sat in silent disbelief. The reviewers went out of their way to be honest, yet kind: “She was undaunted by the composer’s intent.” One critic called her “the First Lady of the Sliding Scale” but Newsweek , the meanies, said she sounded like she suffered from a low, nagging backache. Florence made up with showmanship what she lacked in talent; each concert was accompanied by no less than three costume changes, and during her finale she showered her audience with rose petals.

In 1943, the taxi she was riding in collided with another car. Madame Jenkins noted afterwards that she could sing “a higher F than ever before,” and so she sent the driver an expensive box of cigars. At the age of 76, she rented Carnegie Hall and gave what would be her last performance. The show was sold out and 2,000 fans had to be turned away. Florence died a month later, but just before her death, she wryly observed of her 30-year career: “Some may say I couldn’t sing, but no one can say that I didn’t sing.”