There are a lot of different aspects to cater to in order to produce a truly brilliant music biopic movie. Some people want the grisly truth, warts and all, whilst others long for a romanticized love letter to their musical heroes.
Striking the right medium between the two seems to be a winning formula, at least it does when it comes to award season, as a lot of the leads in this list have either been nominated or won an Academy Award for their efforts. So if you’re a fan of depressing truths, inspiring stories, or just an homage to brilliant music, here are ten of the best music biopics ranked, according to IMDB.
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) - 7.5
The Coal Miner’s Daughter tells the story of country singer Lorretta Lynn and her rise to fame, as chronicled in the book of the same name by George Vecsey. The movie stars Sissy Spacek as Lynn, with Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D’Angelo and Levon Helm in supporting roles. Spacek actually accompanied Lynn on one of her tours in order to capture her movements and mannerisms. Spacek won an Academy Award for the role with Lynn in attendance, the same night DeNiro won for Raging Bull with La Motta in attendance, an extremely rare circumstance for biopic movie nominees!
CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story (2013) - 7.6
Made for VH1 and titled after the group’s second album, CrazySexyCool tells the story of Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez and Tionne “T Boyz” Watkins, played by Keke Palmer, Niatia “Lil Mama” Kirkland and Drew Sidora respectively.
The three leads actually wore the exact same outfits as their subject when reconstructing the “No Scrubs” video. Speaking to the New York Post Lil Mama said “The other girls need alterations to their costumes, mine fit perfectly. It was my Cinderella moment!”
La Vie En Rose (2007) - 7.6
Marion Cotillard won an Academy Award for her portrayal of iconic French singer Édif Piaf. The film takes an unchronological look at her rise to fame, from her grand mother’s brothel to the streets, to the concert halls and onwards to legend.
Director Oliver Dahan wrote the part with Cotillard in mind, even though he never met her (he noticed a similarity in their eyes), to the point that when the studio wanted Audrey Tautou for the role he took a $5 million cut to the budget in order to get his way!
Control (2007) - 7.7
Joy Division’s frontman Ian Curtis is the focus of Control, looking at his rise to fame to his eventual untimely suicide aged just 23. The film explores the various aspects of Curtis’s story which forced him to take his own life, from the pressures of the band, his love life and his battle with epilepsy. The actors who played Joy Division actually learned all of the songs used in the film, so when the band performs in the movie it’s actually live and not just mimed from a tape.
Ray (2004) - 7.7
Ray stars Jamie Foxx as the legendary rhythm and blues singer Ray Charles and earned himself an Oscar for his efforts. Ray takes a look at Charles’ various battles on his way to success, from the death of his brother, going blind at the age of seven, racism, and drug addiction. Charles lived through it all though and watched the first edit of the film before he died in 2004. The movie would go on to be the first African-American biopic to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.
Walk The Line (2005) - 7.8
Walk The Line focuses on the life and times of young Johnny Cash, from his childhood to his rise to fame and the beginnings of his relationship with future wife June Carter.
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star as Johnny and June, with Witherspoon going on to win Best Actress at the Oscars. The film was screened for the inmates of Folsom Prison, almost 40 years after Cash himself had performed there.
Straight Outta Compton (2015) - 7.9
O’Shea Jackson Jr. made his big-screen debut in Straight Outta Compton, portraying his own father Ice Cube in this look at the formation of one of rap’s most influential collectives, the NWA. The film enjoyed massive successive, becoming the highest-grossing movie biopic of all time before it was beaten by the next entry on this list. Despite the massive success, the film was never screen in its titular town, because at the time Compton didn’t actually have a cinema!
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) - 8.0
The most recent entry on the list, Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t the most truthful music biopic, but people didn’t care and they went to see it in their droves, earning the film a massive $903.7 million at the box office. What it may have lacked in authenticity story-wise, it made up for in visuals with an uncanny portrayal of Freddie Mercury which earned Raimi Malek the best actor Oscar, and painstakingly faithful recreation of the famous Live Aid set from Wembley Stadium.
Amadeus (1984) - 8.3
Winner of 8 Academy Awards, including best picture, best director for Milos Forman and best actor in a leading role for F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from the perspective from envious rival Antonio Salieri who was responsible for the classical composers downfall and eventual death, at least as implied from the film. In reality, it is more likely that the two were mutually respectful of one another.
None the less the film is a triumph of cinematography, as all lighting was natural and not a single lightbulb or modern lighting device was used.
The Pianist (2002) - 8.5
Finally, topping the list is The Pianist, the tale of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish radio pianist living in Warsaw during the beginning of World War II. Roman Polanski, who as a child witnessed the Nazis devastate his home country of Poland, would win the best director Oscar for the film (which he couldn’t attend due to an outstanding sexual assault warrant against him), and Adrian Brody would win the award for Best Actor. Brody learned how to play piano for the role, and to this day remains the youngest actor to win the accolade.
