The Top 10 Best Musician Biopics
Musician Biopics are Pretty Big Right Now.
There’s been a trend of damn fine musician biopics hitting theaters recently, which makes sense given how movies and music go so closely hand in hand. A killer soundtrack can make or break a film, which is why so many musical artists probably end up getting the big screen treatment. Well, it turns out a ton of musicians have ended up having movies made about their lives and not all of them are good. That’s why this week’s Stars & Popcorn Top 10 list is tackling the best musician biopics ever made. In order to qualify for this list, the films have to be based on actual musical artists or groups. So no fictional movie bands or singers. It was a tough call to narrow down all the musician biopics out there, so be sure to let me know what you think of the films that made the list by leaving a comment below.
10. Coal Miners Daughter
In all honesty, I’m not a big fan of country music. However, I’ll put aside my prejudices for the sake of this list of musician biopics. Coal Miners Daughter tells the tale of Loretta Lynn (played by Sissy Spacek) a country music singer and songwriter who earned six gold medal certifications and a platinum for recordings over the course of her career. Her story is almost a stereotype. She was born into a poor family and ended up getting married at the ripe old age of… 15!?! By 19 she had 4 children. Of course, her life, once she got into country music, was just even more chaotic as she became one of the most beloved performers in the genre. That is until she suffered a mental breakdown on stage from stress. After a brief hiatus, she returned to the stage and became the first lady of country music.
9. I’m Not There
Anyone who is a fan of Bob Dylan knows that the singer has reinvented himself so many times it’s not even funny. The man’s tackled everything from rock to folk to gospel. I’m Not There tackles the many faces of Dylan in such an intriguing way that I wasn’t sure at first if it should even qualify to be on this list of musician biopics. Director Todd Haynes has six different actors playing characters that are representative of the musician during different periods of his life. The cast includes the likes of Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw all playing some incredibly intricate characters. In the end, I decided that I’m Not There deserved a spot on this list because it takes such a unique approach to its subject matter.
8. Rocketman
This Elton John flick actually inspired this list of musician biopics. The film tells the story of the rise of the King of Camp and one of the greatest musicians of all time (played incredibly by Taron Egerton). During his meteoric rise, he finds himself desperate for the love he never got as a child and ends up looking for it in all the wrong places. As tragic as parts of his story is, Rocketman celebrates the singer’s life no matter how dark it gets by turning to his music and his amazing over the top delivery. It’s these moments when the cast burst out into song and dance that Rocketman truly feels like an Elton John biopic, because, let’s face it, it’s exactly how he would want it. Fans of his definitely won’t want to miss this wild ride through the ups and downs of his life.
7. Sid and Nancy
There have been some pretty iconic couples in music history, but few are as romanticized as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen (played by Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb). Anyone who’s heard the tale of the Sex Pistols bassist and his lover knows that it ends in tragedy. The two meet and within a year have fallen madly in love, becoming completely codependent. Like most musician biopics about a rockstar, drugs play a heavy part and Sid and Nancy end up strung out most of the time on heroin. While I can’t speak from personal experience, I can say that most movies about drug addiction don’t end well. Sid and Nancy feature some pretty intense performances from its two leads and helped to launch Oldman’s career forward at the time. Definitely a movie for those who are fans of punk.
6. Straight Out of Compton
So far on this list of musician biopics, we’ve had films featuring country, punk, and rock, but now it’s time to give a shout out to one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time, N.W.A. The film follows the rise of such influential talents as Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and MC Ren. The group took the world by storm and many of them went on to become major players in almost all aspects of the entertainment industry. Despite eventually going straight, it’s important to remember that they got their start with “gangster rap” that spoke to a disenfranchised minority during a time when race relations were not at their best. Their music was so impactful that even the FBI tried to stop them at one point. This is definitely one of the most intense films to grace this list of musician biopics.