SINGER

Florence Foster Jenkins

1868 - 1944

Photo of Florence Foster Jenkins

Icon of person Florence Foster Jenkins

Florence Foster Jenkins (born Narcissa Florence Foster; July 19, 1868 – November 26, 1944) was an American socialite and amateur soprano who was known, and mocked, for her flamboyant performance costumes and notably poor singing ability. Stephen Pile ranked her "the world's worst opera singer ... No one, before or since, has succeeded in liberating themselves quite so completely from the shackles of musical notation."Because of her technical incompetence, she became a prominent musical cult figure in New York City during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Florence Foster Jenkins has received more than 6,740,325 page views. Her biography is available in 30 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 29 in 2019). Florence Foster Jenkins is the 72nd most popular singer (down from 66th in 2019), the 542nd most popular biography from United States (down from 420th in 2019) and the 32nd most popular American Singer.

Florence Foster Jenkins was a New York heiress who became famous for her lack of musical talent. She was known for singing songs with a terrible voice to audiences who were too polite to tell her she was terrible.

Memorability Metrics

  • 6.7M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 74.14

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 30

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.41

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.79

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Florence Foster Jenkins by language


Among SINGERS

Among singers, Florence Foster Jenkins ranks 72 out of 3,541. Before her are George Michael, 50 Cent, Anna Magdalena Bach, Ian Gillan, Billie Holiday, and Johnny Hallyday. After her are Karel Gott, Bonnie Tyler, Fairuz, Miriam Makeba, Amália Rodrigues, and Steven Tyler.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1868, Florence Foster Jenkins ranks 17. Before her are Gertrude Bell, Arnold Sommerfeld, Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, Emanuel Lasker, Peter Behrens, and Robert Falcon Scott. After her are Paul Claudel, Fuad I of Egypt, Scott Joplin, Gaston Leroux, Gustav Meyrink, and Edmond Rostand. Among people deceased in 1944, Florence Foster Jenkins ranks 28. Before her are Galeazzo Ciano, Charles Glover Barkla, Ernst Thälmann, Arthur Eddington, Hilma af Klint, and Milena Jesenská. After her are Friedrich Olbricht, Louis Renault, Aristide Maillol, Wang Jingwei, Glenn Miller, and Henning von Tresckow.

Others Born in 1868

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Others Deceased in 1944

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Florence Foster Jenkins ranks 542 out of 15,968. Before her are Stephen Hillenburg (1961), Howard Gardner (1943), Ed Harris (1950), Chester A. Arthur (1829), Bill de Blasio (1961), and Ryan O'Neal (1941). After her are Danny Trejo (1944), Emily Greene Balch (1867), Buckminster Fuller (1895), Romina Power (1951), Kevin Spacey (1959), and Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839).

Others born in United States

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Among SINGERS In United States

Among singers born in United States, Florence Foster Jenkins ranks 32. Before her are Little Richard (1932), Jennifer Lopez (1969), Glen Campbell (1936), The Notorious B.I.G. (1972), 50 Cent (1975), and Billie Holiday (1915). After her are Steven Tyler (1948), Nancy Sinatra (1940), Bing Crosby (1903), Prince (1958), Dolly Parton (1946), and Gwen Stefani (1969).

American born Singers

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