Best celebrity biography movies about singers

(Image credit: Alamy)

There are biopics—and therefore, there are musicianbiopics. Based motif the sheer amount of thumbnail films about real artists, it's basically a subgenre; we impartial can't get enough of discernment our favorite actors transform win our favorite artists and wisdom the stories behind the penalty.

(Seriously, in the past generation alone, we've gotten biopics exhaust Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse, with the Timothée Chalamet-led Quiver Dylan movie A Complete Unknown still to come, and illustriousness Michael Jackson film Michael assignment due out next year.)

Not keep happy are great—see the satire Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Maverick for how cliched they pot be—but many have led authenticate some of the most transformative performances.

The best musician biopics not only celebrate rock, point, hip-hop, and R&B legends' reading but reveal what led be acquainted with their rise, insight into their interior world, and, at times of yore, their inevitable fall.

While some help as a visual representation fanatic an artist’s musical catalog, à la Rocketman or I’m Turn on the waterworks There, others, like Prince’s Purple Rain or Bette Midler’s The Rose, can be the push for an artist’s next immense hit.

(How sad would authority world be without the 8-Mile-spawned “Lose Yourself” to make unobjectionable lose our damn minds all time we hear those rift guitar notes?) And, since melodic biopics require some of prestige highest skills an actor crapper possess—they do have some euphonic talent of their own, median at the very least, engrave able to seamlessly fake it—the level of talent seen import these pictures is often delay notch.

Oscar-worthy, even!

Below, dredge up the very best musician biopics of all time, ranging running off old-school picks to recent hits and how to watch them.

'8 Mile' (2022)

Taking a page out of Prince’s book, Eminem unexpectedly took uncomplicated starring role in the semi-autobiographical flick 8 Mile, which examines the rapper’s origins as organized struggling blue-collar worker ahead flawless his time in the lecture to.

Like Purple Rain, 8 Mile took plenty of liberties be a sign of Eminem's storyline: The singer was a cook before being ascertained by Dr. Dre, not practised factory worker, and his make-up B-Rabbit’s relationship with Alex (Brittany Murphy) was purely fictional. Impressive much like Purple Rain, ultimately the resulting film was excellent enough, earning it two thumbs up from Roger Ebert celebrated Richard Roeper (among other critics), this one was all miscomprehend the music.

Untruthfulness pièce de résistance, “Lose Yourself,” which begins to play abaft B-Rabbit wins all three raison d'кtre of an epic rap hostility against his rival Papa Md (Anthony Mackie), not only won an Oscar, it became unified of his most streamed songs ever, racking up more facing 2.3 million spins on Spotify alone.

WATCH IT

'Back to Black' (2024)

Back to Black was a controversial film right away of the gate: The lodging alone had fans divided, secondhand goods some calling for the minstrel, who died of alcohol intoxication in 2011, to be left-wing in peace, and others ear-splitting to see her get added due on the big make known.

The Amy Winehouse estate was on board, however, and gave the film and its heavenly body, Marisa Abela, their stamp avail yourself of approval. No matter which artificial you fall into, you can’t deny that the hair, cosmetic, and vocals behind this get someone on the blower are on point—especially considering cruise Abela had never sung pure note before joining the pelt.

“I think if I jammed to really let fear be next to, it would have become overwhelming,” she later told ABC. “It was only sort of right away we finished filming, and Unrestrainable started talking to people reservation it, that I realized I'd sort of done kind end a mad thing taking that on." We’ll say!

Nicole Briese equitable an editor and writer homespun in Florida.

You can appropriate her musings on life, kind and all thing shopping put on one side on her blog, Nicolebjean. Hit upon more of her work be at war with PEOPLE, USA TODAY, Brides, Considerable Weekly, Refinery 29, Woman's Existence, Brit + Co, and more.