(Photo by Searchlight Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection. A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)

The 50 Best Music Biopic Movies

The latest: Bob Dylan goes electric in the Timothee Chalamet-starring A Complete Unknown, directed by Walk the Line‘s James Mangold.

Get ready for a Fresh new sound with tonight’s headliner: Rotten Tomatoes’ best music biopics ever!

Music has been a crucial component of the movies since the beginning, back even when they were supposedly ‘silent.’ So naturally we started making movies about those makers of melodies. And actors love playing them: They get to show off an expanded range of talent, and so many musicians’ lives are filled with drama and passion. As the term implies, the biopics on this list are all based on real people across an expanse of styles: rock (A Complete Unknown, Control), country (Coal Miner’s Daughter, Walk the Line), hip-hop (Straight Outta Compton), pop (Selena, Love & Mercy), classical (Amadeus), and beyond. The only exception we made was for 8 Mile: Though the names were changed, the fact that the main character – a Marshall Mathers stand-in – was played by the original Marshall Mathers demanded its inclusion.

Let’s take it from the top, and this time with feeling: Play on for the best-reviewed music biopic movies!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#

#

#15

#

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

#25

#26

#27

#

#29

#30

#31

#32

#

#34

#35

#36

#37

#

#39

#40

#41

#42

#43

#44

#45

#46

#47

#48

#49

#50