It seems like every major musician that has ever lived receives a movie adaptation of their careers but no all of these live up to expectations or answer all of the questions; Why does Johnny Cash get a movie but not Bob Dylan? Why does Whitney Houston get one but not Beyoncé? Let’s break down some music biopics that Hollywood needs to make now.
Kanye West
Before everyone closes the window and stops reading, hear me out. This is a story that could go one of two ways; Kanye could see the error his words, get the help he needs and makes a comeback for the ages OR he continues being a garbage human being and his downfall becomes the subject of a four-part HBO documentary series. Society loves the downfall of a public figure and Kanye has crashed and burned in a spectacular fashion. Whether or not he is aware of his crash is unknown but the Hollywood version of this story, if he does stage a comeback, would start with the death of his mother, continue with his descent into mental illness and end with a redemption performance in front of a throng of adoring fans. My money is on him continuing his fuckery until he is relegated to obscurity and irrelevancy and HBO or Netflix come calling to dissect what went wrong.
Fleetwood Mac
Perhaps this story would be better served as a miniseries but holly hell, it would be a good one; starting life a different band, the relationships and backstabbing among members, the mega success of the Rumors album and the solo career of Stevie Nicks. It is shocking that a film has not already been made about Fleetwood Mac but the recent death of Christine McVie and the passing of Peter Green in 2020 could propel a story forward. Either that or a solo film about Stevie Nicks needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Janis Joplin
This is a film that has been in development for years but has not quite gotten off the ground. One of the members of the infamous “27 Club”, Joplin’s time as a pioneer of women’s rock and roll was powerful and impactful. Her performance on “Piece of My Heart” remains an all-time incredible vocal performance but it is also remarkable the artists she interacted with during her short life; she broke a whiskey bottle over Jimi Hendrix’s head, had a deep relationship with Kris Kristofferson and even had a flirtation with Ron “Pig Pen” McKernan of The Grateful Dead and on top of that, she left money for her friends after she had passed away so they could throw a big party after her funeral. This could easily be a major film headlined by stars to play all of the legendary music acts.
The Grunge Era
There are a multitude of different stories from the grunge era of music and some of them have been told but only partially. It is criminal that a film about Nirvana has not been made but it seems like producers are more interested in exploiting Courtney Love’s conspiracy theories than telling the story of Kurt Cobain. Making a Nirvana film that is centered on Cobain’s depression seems dark but instead the film’s story lies in Nirvana’s iconic MTV performance interspersed with flashbacks from the band’s history leading to Cobain’s tragic suicide. There is also the story of Soundgraden and Chris Cornell. Soundgarden was probably the closest imitation music ever came to replicating Led Zepellin and Chris Cornell was the biggest reason for that success. He had an incredible voice and even found success with a new band then as a solo artist and later reunited with Soundgarden in the early 2010’s but Cornell’s mental health struggles coupled with his drug addiction led to his suicide in 2017. Perhaps the Hollywood version of this story is with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder who collaborated with Cornell during their heyday and has managed to carve out a nearly 35-year career in music after seemingly being the only survivor to emerge from the grunge era. The 90’s were an incredible decade that gave us many innovations but grunge is a time that should be celebrated.
Beyoncé
This is a film that will happen but the story is still being written about the legendary performer. While she is notoriously private about her life and rightfully so given how long she has been in the limelight, the film could lie in Queen Bey juggles the complexity of being a world-famous artist while being a wife, mother and sister. We will have a long time for Beyoncé to retire from performing before this movie ever gets made.
Beastie Boys
This movie is more of a wish list entry but could be tremendous fun to chronicle the rise of a group that originally started as a hardcore punk band and transitioned to a rap trio that marched to the beat of their own drum and truly gave zero fucks. However, MCA aka Adam Yauch passed away in 2012 and the group disbanded in 2014 but the memoir, Beastie Boys Book is the definitive recollection of the band and the Spike Jonze documentary, Beastie Boys Story offers even more insight into the lives and minds of Ad-Rock, Mike D. and MCA
