Best music biopics of all time

With Bruce Springsteen movie Deliver Me From Nowhere in cinemas this week, we’ve used it as an excuse to assemble our list of the very best music biopics ever.

It’s been a busy time for musical biographies over the last few years. After Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody became a box office phenomenon – grossing more than $900 million worldwide – we’ve been inundated with entries in the genre.

From Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, and Elton John, to Whitney Houston, Bob Dylan, and Amy Winehouse, some of the biggest artists in music history have been given the movie treatment, some to great effect, and others unworthy of the artist on which they’re based.

So to separate the chart-toppers from the flops, we’ve selected our picks for the best music biopics of all time, and listed them from 15-to-1.

15. Love & Mercy

Director: Bill Pohlad
Cast: Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks
Release date: June 5, 2015

What it’s about: A dual-timeline portrait of Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy depicts both his 1960s creative peak making Pet Sounds, and Wilson’s later struggles with mental illness.

Why we like it: Love & Mercy plays out in two time periods, and takes two contrasting approaches to the musical biopic, capturing the joy of creation in the studio, and the battle going on inside a brilliant but tortured mind. Paul Dano and John Cusack capture both the artistry and tragedy of Brian Wilson, in what’s a tender and moving portrait.

14. What’s Love Got to Do With It

Director: Brian Gibson
Cast: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Vanessa Bell Calloway
Release date: June 25, 1993

What it’s about: What’s Love Got to Do With It charts Tina Turner’s rise from church singer to global icon while navigating abuse and trauma.

Why we like it: Angela Bassett’s towering central performance is the main reason to watch this one, with the actress dominating the screen as she captures Tina Turner’s troubled years in an abusive marriage, as well as the triumph that followed.

13. I’m Not There

Director: Todd Haynes
Cast: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger
Release date: October 31, 2007

What it’s about: The story – and mythology – of Bod Dylan told through six characters who embody different facets of his life, career, and music.

Why we like it: Director Todd Hayne’s doesn’t do anything by the book, and his surreal Bob Dylan movie blurs fact and fiction to mirror the artist’s own chameleon-like persona. Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, and Ben Wishaw make fascinating ‘Dylans,’ while Cate Blanchett’s remarkable take on Bob earned her an Oscar nomination.

12. Rocketman

Director: Dexter Fletcher
Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden
Release date: May 31, 2019

What it’s about: A fantastical retelling of Elton John’s rise from shy prodigy to flamboyant stadium filler, Rocketman traverses his troubled childhood, partnership with Bernie Taupin, the birth of his musical identity, and the price of fame.

Why we like it: Director Dexter Fletcher merges musical biopic with film fantasy to tell Elton John’s story, with wild flights of fantasy inspired by the artist’s colorful onstage performances, as well as his mind becoming increasingly addled by drugs. Taron Egerton does a good job singing, and a great job playing the rock legend.

11. Elvis

Director: Baz Luhrmann
Cast: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge
Release date: June 24, 2022

What it’s about: Elvis is a sweeping chronicle of Presley’s life from young Memphis musician to king of rock ‘n’ roll, while the movie also examines his complicated bond with manager Colonel Tom Parker, that both fuelled and fractured his career.

Why we like it: Director Baz Luhrman loves chaos, glitter, and excess, which makes him the perfect man to tell the Elvis Presley’s story, while Austin Butler disappears into the title role and Tom Hanks captures the dark side of the industry’s most famous Svengali.

10. Nowhere Boy

Director: Sam Taylor-Wood
Cast: Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne Marie Duff
Release date: December 25, 2009

What it’s about: An account of John Lennon’s adolescent years in post-war Liverpool, Nowhere Boy explores the youngster’s relationship with his Aunt Mimi, and the birth of his rebellious musical identity.

Why we like it: Star Aaron Taylor-Johnson captures John Lennon’s restless genius in Nowhere Boy, while director Sam Taylor-Wood resists cliché by crafting a quiet, intimate, and grounded origin story that unfolds before success changed everything.

9. Sid & Nancy

Director: Alex Cox
Cast: Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman
Release date: May 16, 1986

What it’s about: Sid & Nancy covers the chaotic romance between Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his American girlfriend Nancy Spungen during the explosive punk era.

Why we like it: This harrowing journey down rock’s dark corridors is anchored by an electrifying Gary Oldman performance as wild man Sid, while director Alex Cox captures both the energy and nihilism of punk, before proceedings take a tragic turn.

8. Walk the Line

Director: James Mangold
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin
Release date: November 18, 2005

What it’s about: Walk the Line tracks Johnny Cash’s life from dirt-poor kid to country music legend, covering his torrid relationship with June Carter, as well as his struggles with addiction.

Why we like it: Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are impeccably cast as Johnny Cash and June Carter, in a film that captures the essence of the great man, doesn’t shy away from his dark side, and ultimately becomes a heartfelt story of love and redemption.

7. Amadeus

Director: Miloš Forman
Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Beryl
Release date: September 19, 1984

What it’s about: A fictionalized account of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life, seen through the envious eyes of rival composer Salieri.

Why we like it: Set in the lavish courts of 18th century Vienna, Amadeus mixes biography and operatic excess, with Mozart played by Tom Hulce as the first punk rocker. But the movie is rightfully remembered for – and belongs to – F. Murray Abraham, who oozes anger and resentment as Salieri, in a performance that won him an Oscar.

6. Better Man

Director: Michael Gracey
Cast: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton
Release date: December 25, 2024

What it’s about: Robbie Williams is rendered as a chimpanzee in this stylized biopic that focuses on his fame with Take That, solo success, and battle with multiple personal demons.

Why we like it: Better Man flips the musical playbook by making its subject a literal dancing monkey. In the process, director Michael Gracey finds a fresh way to explore well-worn biopic conventions like ego, addiction, and reinvention, and that singular creative decision results in a fascinating film.

5. 8 Mile

Director: Curtis Hanson
Cast: Eminem, Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger
Release date: November 8, 2002

What it’s about: 8 Mile is a semi-fictional account of Eminem’s escape from Detroit’s trailer parks using his raw talent in a series of rap battles.

Why we like it: 8 Mile is less musical biopic and more gritty sports movie, with Eminem playing a version of himself going toe-to-toe with a series of emcees to break free from poverty, and make it in the rap scene. Director Curtis Hanson captures the kinetic energy of those musical conflicts, with the final contest an all-timer.

4. 24 Hour Party People

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, John Simm
Release date: November 22, 2002

What it’s about: 24 Hour Party People is a raucous chronicle of Manchester’s Factory Records era and the rise of bands like Joy Division, New Order, and Happy Mondays, told through the eyes of TV presenter-turned-music impresario Tony Wilson.

Why we like it: Director Michael Winterbottom and star Steve Coogan are clearly having a blast in this playful and irreverent account of the Madchester years, via a movie that’s as euphoric as the club scenes depicted, and as witty and chaotic as the artists it’s about.

3. Straight Outta Compton

Director: F. Gary Gray
Cast: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell
Release date: August 14, 2015

What it’s about: Straight Outta Compton revolves around the rise of hip-hop pioneers N.W.A. through their breakthrough albums, as well as the social impact they made.

Why we like it: F. Gary Gray’s fierce, stylish, and culturally significant film captures the raw talent of N.W.A., the power of resistance through music, and the personal and professional cost of that defiance.

2. A Complete Unknown

Director: James Mangold
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning
Release date: December 25, 2024

What it’s about: Complete Unknown is a Bob Dylan biopic that’s book-ended by his arrival on New York’s folk scene, and the electric performance that tore the movement apart.

Why we like it: Rather than examining an entire life, writer-director James Mangold smartly decided to depict the most interesting period in Bob Dylan’s early career, when he was discovering his talent and the power of his music, and just as fame was hitting the singer-songwriter like a hurricane. It’s a richly layered examination of a precocious talent, while Timothée Chalamet delivers a performance for the ages, particularly when breathing new life into those remarkable songs.

1. Control

Director: Anton Corbijn
Cast: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Alexandra Maria Lara
Release date: August 19, 2008

What it’s about: Based on Deborah Curtis’ memoir about Ian Curtis and the formation of Joy Division in the 1970s, Control examines how Curtis struggled with his personal life and epilepsy in the time leading up to his suicide in 1980.

Why we like it: Control is a beautifully haunting examination of Ian Curtis’ life, flaws and all. It does so while capturing the electric nature of Joy Division’s meteoric rise in the UK via a surprisingly expressive black and white vision. Sam Riley delivers a powerful performance as the singer, perfectly embodying the young star’s tortured nature with such force that it’ll pull on the heartstrings of newcomers and Joy Division fans alike.