[singing off key] >> reporter: florence foster jenkins didn't make my recordings, but they had to bema school when i was a student. >> reporter: you did? >> oh, yeah. it was pretty specifically great. >> action. >> music is my life. >> reporter: meryl streep plays lady florence, as she liked to be called, in the new film florence foster jenkins about the amateur soprano. critics called her promissory. >> so many of the great singers of her time are not remembered, but she is. >> that's a tragedy actually. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: by the late 1930s, when these photographs were taken for "life" magazine, florence's performances were notorious, mystifyingly the society pages indulged her with glowing notice. "madam jenkins annual recital," the "new york daily mirror" wrote, "bring unbounded joy to the faded souls of park avenue and the musical elite." composer cole porter was a fan, and astonishingly, at the peak of her notoriety in 1944, florence took the stage at carnegie hall. >> pretty daunting. >> reporter: pretty impressive. and performed to a sold-out house. this is the program that was

. >> reporter: in her new film, meryl streep plays the real-life florence foster jenkins and the ear-splittingteur opera singer who somehow sold out carnegie hall. so many of the great singers of her time are now remembered, but she is. >> well, that's a tragedy actually. >> reporter: later on sunday morning, meryl streep and the story of the soprano who couldn't sing. >> pauley: for the record, the band known as "chicago" can sing very, very well, and they've been at it for half a century now, as we'll be hearing from john blackstone. ♪ you're the feeling in my life you're the inspiration ♪ >> reporter: their many hits are familiar, and, while you may not recognize their faces and names, you almost certainly know their logo. your logo is arguably more famous than any of you are. >> we've been hiding behind that logo for 50 years. >> reporter: the musicians behind the name "chicago" ahead on "sunday morning." >> pauley: birds of a feather is a story from tracey smith all about an unlikely sounding partnership that's paying big dividends. >> reporter: okay. they're loud and kind of obnoxious, b