A biopic is a biographical film made about great historical figures, actors, and musicians. They tell fascinating stories, and many are peppered with a mix of fact and fiction. These films focus on childhood, rise to fame, major life achievements, relationships, and even loss and death. They inform and entertain, providing life stories for some of the most entertaining people who have ever lived.
Musical biopics, a subgenre of the biopic, cover the lives of some of the greatest musicians. Whether it is the story of a Beach Boy who struggled under the control of an abusive therapist or a country music legend and the woman who helped him battle his addiction or the tragic tale of a rock star taken too soon, these films shine an entertaining light on lives we can only imagine, and often have.
To celebrate these remarkable stories, Stacker took a look at all the biographical movies on Metacritic and ranked the top 25 biopics about musicians. To qualify as a music biopic, the film had to feature actors portraying real musicians. Films were ranked by Metascore and ties were broken by their rank among all biography films on the list, a much larger list that includes documentaries and films on non-musician subjects of all kinds.