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music films

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Movies inspired by and based on true stories.

View film trailers and reviews. Discover the facts vs. fiction, history vs. Hollywood.

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Most films included are highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). They have at least a 70% rating from critics and audiences alike, many with 80% or above. Enjoy the best true story films about music and musicians!

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Scene from One Chance (2013) movie based on a true story.jpeg

Scene from One Chance (2013)

“People haven't always been there for me, but music always has,” said Taylor Swift. Let's ditch celebrity gossip, and take a deeper look at the lives of musicians. Films based on and inspired by true stories about musicians in alphabetical order:

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  1. Amadeus (1984)

  2. Elvis (2022)

  3. Judy (2019)

  4. La Bamba (1987)

  5. Love & Mercy (2014)

  6. One Chance (2013)

  7. Ray (2004)

  8. Rocketman (2019)

  9. Selena (1997)

  10. Shine (1996)

  11. Taking Sides (2001)

  12. The Sapphires (2012)

  13. The Sound of Music (1965)

  14. The Temptations (1998)

  15. tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)

  16. Walk the Line (2005)

Amadeus (1984)

 

PG | Biography, History, Drama, Music | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a talented young Viennese composer who becomes the object of rivalry and jealousy from the disciplined and religious composer Antonio Salieri, who resents Mozart for his hedonistic lifestyle and talent, becoming obsessed with Mozart's downfall.

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Trailers and Reviews:

 

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Elvis (2022) true story movie poster.jpg

Elvis (2022)

 

PG-13 | Docudrama, Biography, Drama, Music | The film explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

 

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Judy (2019)

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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Music, Romance | Actress and singer Judy Garland arrives in London, thirty years after starring in The Wizard of Oz, to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub, while navigating personal struggles and a new romantic relationship.

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Trailers and Reviews: 

 

Facts: 

  • History vs Hollywood

  • Judy Garland quotes with sources on wikiquote​

    • "As for my feelings toward 'Over the Rainbow', it's become part of my life. It is so symbolic of all dreams and wishes that I'm sure that's why people sometimes get tears in their eyes when they hear it." - Judy Garland, Letter to Harold Arlen, as quoted in Over the Rainbow: The Wizard of Oz as a Secular Myth of America (1991) by Paul Nathanson, p. 340

    • "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." - Judy Garland, as quoted in Business Etiquette for the Nineties: Your Ticket to Career Success (1992) by Lou Kennedy, p. 8

    • "I wish you would mention the joy she had for life, that’s what she gave me. If she was the tragic figure they say she was, I would be a wreck, wouldn't I? It was her love of life that carried her through everything. The middle of the road was never for her — it bored her. She wanted the pinnacle of excitement. If she was happy, she wasn’t just happy, she was ecstatic. And when she was sad, she was sadder then anyone. She lived eight lives in one, and yet I thought she would outlive us all. She was a great star, and a great talent, and for the rest of my life I will be proud to be Judy Garland's daughter. It wasn’t suicide, it wasn’t sleeping pills, it wasn’t cirrhosis. I think she was just tired, like a flower that blooms and gives joy and beauty to the world and then wilts away." - Liza Minnelli, as quoted in Little Girl Lost (1974) by Al DiOrio

​La Bamba (1987)

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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Music | In 1958, Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens becomes a rock 'n' roll success with his ballad "Donna," which he wrote for his girlfriend whose parents object to her dating a Latino boy. He also has conflicts with his jealous brother, Bob, and a recurring nightmare of a plane crash before starting his first national tour with Buddy Holly.

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Love & Mercy (2014)

 

PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Music | In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, creates his own music, and struggles with emerging psychosis. By the 1980s, he's broken and confused under the 24-hour watch of a shady therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy, when he finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.

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One Chance (2013)

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PG-13 | Biography, Comedy, Drama, Music | The story of Paul Potts, the shy amateur opera singer who auditions on Britain's Got Talent 2007. 

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Ray (2004)

 

PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Music | The life story of rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, portaying his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at a young age, and his rise to stardom in the 1950s to 1960s, when he engages in drug addiction and infidelity in his life on the road. 

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Rocketman (2019)

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R | Biography, Drama, Music, Musical | In this musical biopic about Elton John's breakthrough years in the 1970s, the shy piano prodigy transforms into a famous pop musician and international superstar. 

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Selena (1997)

 

PG | Biography, Drama, Music | Selena is a young Tejano singer born into a musical Mexican-American family who rises to have albums topping the Latin music charts, but when she begins recording an English-language album, tragedy strikes. 

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Shine (1996)

 

PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Music, Romance | David Helfgott is a child piano prodigy with an abusive father, but when he moves to London on a music scholarship, his career flourishes. With pressure from his newfound fame, his difficult childhood, and schizoaffective disorder, he has a breakdown and spends years in mental institutions.

 

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Facts: 

  • Love You to Bits and Pieces: Life with David Helfgott 1997 book by Gillian Helfgott and Alissa Tanskaya on Amazon. Book description: "The wife of Australian pianist David Helfgott discusses the pianist's life story, from child musical prodigy, through his mental breakdown, and to a triumphant recovery."

  • Out of Tune: David Helfgott and the Myth of Shine 1998 book by Margaret Helfgott. From the back cover: "The Academy Award winning film Shine made pianist David Helfgott a household name. While purporting to be a true story, the movie is actually full of fabrications. Now for the first time, Margaret, David Helfgott's eldest sister, who knows him better than anyone from their early years, sets the record straight. Dispelling the many untruths propogated by the movie, Margaret tells the real story of her extraordinary brother, of a life, a career, and a legacy that will remain forever...Out Of Tune."

Taking Sides (2001)

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Unrated | Drama, Music, War | After the end of World War II, famous German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler is accused of loyalty to the Nazi regime and investigated as part of the Allies' de-Nazification program. He argues that art and politics are separate. 

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Facts: 

  • The April 4, 1942 concert - the final minutes of Furtwanger conducting Beethoven's 9th Symphony before Hitler's birthday, and Goebbels shaking his hand

  • Album notes for FURTWÄNGLER Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral" (1942) - "The history of this recording is well known and takes us deep into one of the darkest eras of human history: Nazi Germany, the performances around the celebration of Hitler's birthday in March 1942, and a conductor who some saw as a collaborator, others an a naive tool of the regime, others still as someone who chose to oppose from within rather than leave Germany like so many other top-ranking musicians."

The Sapphires (2012)

 

PG-13 | Biography, Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance | In 1968, a talent scout secures four talented Australian Aboriginal girls their first gig, flying them to Vietnam to sing for U.S. troops, where they learn about love, family, friendship, and war.

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The Sound of Music (1965) true story film about the Von Trapp Family, film poster

The Sound of Music (1965)

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G | Biography, Drama, Family, Musical, Romance | In the 1930s, Maria is a young novice sent by her convent in Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer. She brings a love of life and music to the home, and the Von Trapp Family singers become a well-known concert group.

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The Temptations (1998) true story mini series movie poster.jpg

The Temptations (1998)

 

TV-PG | Biography, Drama, Music | Biography of the singers who formed the famous Motown musical group, The Temptations, beginning with their early years in the 1950s to their rise to stardom.

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tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) true story movie about Jonathan Larson, theater composer, Andrew Garfield, Lin-Manuel Miranda film poster

tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)

 

PG-13 | Docudrama, Pop Musical, Biography, Comedy, Drama, Musical | Lin-Manuel Miranda adapts Jonathan Larson's autobiographical musical, portaying him as an aspiring theater composer on the brink of turning thirty as he navigates love, friendship, and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.

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Walk the Line (2005)

 

PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Music, Romance | The life story and struggles of country music legend Johnny Cash, from his childhood on an Arkansas family farm with an emotionally abusive father, to his rise to fame in Memphis, where he records alongside Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and falls in love with singer June Carter.

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More to Come!

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Are there any more films about music and musicians based on a true story to include here? Any more facts vs. fiction? Contact me. I am open to respectful questions, comments, positive feedback, and constructive feedback about this website. Thank you, and enjoy the movies!

Amadeus (1984)
Elvis (2022)
Judy (2019)
La Bamba (1987)
Love & Mercy (2014)
One Chance (2013)
Ray (2004)
Rocketman (2019)
Selena (1997)
Shine (1996)
Taking Sides (2001)
The Sapphires (2012)
The Sound of Music (1965)
The Temptations (1998)
tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)
Walk the Line (2005)
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