Musical Biopic or Documentary

Biopics featuring musicians are all well and good, but sometimes you just want the real story. Well, more of the real story. That's where documentaries come in. Not that documentaries can't be biased, but generally they are better researched and rely less on hearsay. Here are some of my favorite biopics and some accompanying documentaries.

Now, this is the first music biopic that I really remember watching and it left quite the impression, even though I was fairly unfamiliar with the artist in question. But the music was really good and who doesn't love all of that drama?

Walk the Line

Kanopy, the streaming service, has a series of videos on Discovering Musicians, including one on Johnny Cash.

The Unauthorized Biography of Johnny Cash

I was really excited for this next one. I grew up listening to the music of Queen, my dad really loved them and passed that on to me. I find this one really emotional.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Again, Kanopy has a great documentary on Freddie Mercury.

Queen

The last biopic I really enjoy is another recent one. Again, I enjoyed Elton John's music growing up and while I understand the movie is maybe more how Elton wants to remember his life than how it actually happened, I find it really interesting.

Rocketman

Another from Kanopy's Discovering Music series, Discovering Elton John.

Elton John

If you want even more musical content, check out our list:

Musical Biopics and Documentaries