Bohemian Rhapsod

Album on Deezer

Bad Reputation

is a 2018 American documentary film about the career of rock musician Joan Jett, directed by Kevin Kerslake and written by Joel Marcus. The documentary traces Jett's musical career from the formation of the Runaways through her subsequent partnership with songwriter and producer Kenny Laguna. Continuing with the creation of the band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts as well as the establishment of the record label Blackheart Records with Laguna, the narrative concludes with the induction of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2015.

Women who rock

Docuseries

https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/women-who-rock-who-are-music-all-time-female-pioneers-b1060600.html

Dig!

The story of two rock bands and their highs and lows over the course of 7 years

I watched several music documentaries. I don't remember the titles, but I found some.
The last music doc I watched was Bad Reputation, which I mentioned above.
The next one I remember is about Eric Clapton, who was quite interesting to me.

Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars

Life in 12 beats. Directed by Academy Award-winner Lili Fini Zanuck with editor Chris King, this uncompromising documentary gives audiences a rare opportunity to see a deeply personal story that includes great highs and extreme lows in his private and public life.

Guitarist Eric Clapton is undoubtedly one of music's most legendary figures - the only three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 18 Grammy Award winners and world-renowned as one of the greatest performers of all time.

We will hear his old interviews as well as recent ones, and there will also be comments from his close associates, friends and family members.
Featuring exclusive footage from Clapton's personal archive, including his most famous performances, pre-concert dressing room footage, amateur home videos, famous public and private photographs, handwritten letters and personal diaries, the audience can witness the raw talent and ambition of the man he personal tragedy struck, and he also struggled with addiction.

Another one of the music docs that I would recommend to watch is

Freddie: The Final Act

(2021 by James Rogan)

This is the story of the epic concert that Freddie Mercury's friends put on in his honor to raise awareness of the disease he died from and fight the stigma that accompanies it. Music documentary film Freddie Mercury: The Last Act.
In the late 1980s, Freddie Mercury secretly fought with AIDS, a disease that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, but also against homophobia.
Surprisingly, after his death, public attitudes towards homosexuality became drastically more liberal.
The film also features the first major interview with Kashmira Bulsara, Freddie's sister, as well as conversations with the main stars of the concert.
This is the story of a tragedy that inspired people around the world to finally speak publicly about a problem that had been kept quiet until then.

Abba Forever: The Winner Takes It All

Documentary by Chris Hunt  ( 2019 )

50 years ago, the four young people who would become the Swedish supergroup Abba met for the first time. Over the years, they managed to sell more than 400 million records. 20 years ago, the musical Mamma Mia! premiered on the West End. which contains 27 of their songs, and has been viewed by more than a million people to date.

Despite the fact that they only existed as a band for about ten years because they broke up in 1982, the Abba group enjoys equal popularity today. Abba, it seems, will live forever. As group member Anni-Frid says in this documentary, "Abba will never disappear. I get mail from teenagers who I could be a grandmother to!"

ABBA FOREVER is a celebration of Abba's music. Super Trouper, Waterloo, SOS, Mamma Mia, Fernando, Chiquitita, Dancing Queen, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Does Your Mother Know, Knowing Me Knowing You, The Winner Takes It All, Thank You For The Music and Money Money Money are just some of hits that we present.

ROCKFIELD: THE STUDIO ON THE FARM

This is a story about dreams of rock and roll and the struggle to save the family business in a world of changing musical tastes and trends.

50 years ago, in a remote Welsh village, two brothers milked cows and were about to take over the family farm, but dreamed of pursuing music. They came up with the idea to build a music studio in the attic of their house and start recording songs. The animals were removed from the barn, and the musicians moved into the grandmother's guest room. So they inadvertently founded the first independent recording studio in their own house: Rockfield.

Over the next several decades, Black Sabbath, Queen, Robert Plant, Iggy Pop, Simple Minds, Oasis, The Stone Roses, Coldplay and many others partied and recorded music at Rockfield.

The Go-Go's

by Alison Ellwood ( 2020 )

A sound that defined a genre, shattered stereotypes and changed popular culture forever. A music-documentary film about The Go-Go's, an all-female rock band and the first multi-platinum band composed exclusively of female musicians who play all the instruments and write the songs themselves.

Their albums were regularly at the top of the music charts. Director Alison Ellwood has explored the band's history in detail, revealing the immense effort and work behind the success, the glitz and glamour, but also the dark side and high cost of fame, while not losing sight of their achievements. The Go-Go's will be remembered as the band that paved the way for other female musicians in the music industry.

David Bowie: The First Five Years - Finding Fame 

by Francis Whately 2019 

The music documentary explores the little-known years in which David Bowie was just developing and creating a career, and shows how those early experiences influenced the music that later made Bowie a global star.
The news of David Bowie's death in January 2016 reverberated around the world. He was one of the most influential musicians of his generation, and his songs such as "Life on Mars", "Heroes", "Starman" and "Let's Dance" are now part of the global musical heritage.

But before creating Ziggy Stardust, his alter ego, Bowie is still largely unknown.

This documentary chronicles the five early years of Bowie's career, from the late 1960s to Ziggy Stardust's death on stage in 1973.

It shows how many ideas that arose in those early years of his career later matured into fantastically successful songs.
Interspersed with never-before-seen interviews with some of Bowie's earliest collaborators, the film is a fascinating and unfamiliar story, a new look at the musician we all think we know.

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years

by Ron Howard 2016

Music documentary about the most famous band in the world, The Beatles, and their tours from 1963 to 1966. Then they held 250 concerts and lived on the move, writing new songs in vans in hotel rooms and releasing two albums a year.

The events surrounding their concert at New York's "Shea Stadium", which was held in 1965 in front of as many as 55,000 people, were also recorded.

A variety of interviews, music, archival footage and stories related to the phenomenon of The Beatles, the beloved band that forever marked the world music scene.

Jim Morrison - Last days in Paris

by Olivier Monssens ( 2022 )

Although it deals with Morrison's Paris period, the documentary also talks about the Doors, a band that more than many symbolized teenage rebellion and influenced rock music that was both soulful and epic, looking to the past, but also incredibly modern.

More than fifty years ago in Paris, on the night of July 2-3, 1971, the body of Jim Morrison, one of the most independent icons, the singer of the American group that changed the sound of rock, was found lifeless in the apartment where the singer stayed with his American girl Pamela Courson. The death, which only a handful of friends knew about, would be announced only a few days later.

Heart attack? A CIA conspiracy? Overdose? The secret will remain unsolved for a long time, but one thing is certain: that night Jim Morrison joined the 27 Club, free-spirited idols like Janis Joplin, Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix who were cut down by intemperance at the age of 27.

In addition to the circumstances of his death, the film will also tell the story of the man Jim Morrison became in the last months in Paris when he left his star band in the USA. He ran away with the hope of a new life with his literary role models, especially Rimbaud, and roaming the Parisian nights.

The story is told by those who met and spent time with Jim in the French capital, including Sam Bernett, art director
of the Rock'n'roll Circus club that Morrison frequented, war photographer Patrick Chauvel, Rosalie Varda and American musician Phil Steele.

Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things

by Leslie Woodhead ( 2018 )

This documentary tells the story of Ella Fitzgerald's life and reveals why many see her music as a summary of a turbulent century. The film follows Ella's career, which began at a young talent competition in 1934 at the iconic Apollo Theater in Harlem, and spanned five decades.

Her music, as well as her life, reflect all the turbulent passions and troubles of that time. Unlike conventional biographical films, this one tries to use pictures and music to evoke the atmosphere of that time and the environment in which she grew up artistically. The film features interviews with Smokey Robinson, Jamie Cullum, Tony Bennett, Norma Miller and Laura Mvule.

Billie 

by James Erskine ( 2020 )

Billie Holiday had one of the greatest voices of all time and changed the face of American music.  She was a woman of breath-taking talent and global popularity while also stirring controversy.  She started a notable rebellion singing “Strange Fruit” which exposed the realities of Black life in America and earned her powerful enemies.  Raw, emotional and brutally honest, Billie is filled with never-before-heard interviews from musical greats like Charles Mingus, Tony Bennett, Sylvia Syms and Count Basie.

Nothing Compares

by Kathryn Ferguson ( 2022 )

The documentary "Nothing Compares" chronicles Sinéad O'Connor's meteoric success and examines how she used her voice at the height of her fame before her iconoclastic persona resulted in her exile from the world of pop music. Focusing on Sinéad's prophetic words and deeds from 1987 to 1993, the film brings us a rich portrait of this fearless pioneer through a contemporary feminist lens.

The documentary film "Nothing Compares" is full of archival material and brings us key videos of that era and concerts along with never-before-seen footage from that period.

The film is interspersed with a new interview with Sinéad, in which she reflects on the events in her own words and from today's perspective. Intimate conversations add to the film's rich content and offer additional insights from contemporary artists, musicians and social commentators, including broader themes from Irish history, politics and global activism.

In all this, they reflect on Sinéad's art, legacy and the mark she left. Regardless of her disappearance, her influence is great and powerful. She influenced other musicians to speak their mind, to express their views clearly and to use their public persona for activism and pointing out injustices in the world.

This was very clearly pointed out in the documentary by Chuck D from the band Public Enemy.

"Nothing Compares" does a great job of filling in some of the lost context surrounding O'Connor that any longtime fan will appreciate. In addition, Ferguson deliberately uses only voice-over interviews, including interviews with O'Connor, and helps bring the focus back to where it always should have been - on what Sinéad O'Connor is thinking and saying.

Don’t look back - documentary of Bob Dylan’s 1965 U.K. tour

Dean Martin: The King of Cool

by Tom Donahue 2021

Dean Martin was undoubtedly a brilliant star, and he dominated the world of popular culture for decades. This documentary is an investigative portrait of an underrated genius and his enduring cultural importance as a unique figure who showed everyone how to be "cool."

He was a master of improvisation, a giant of comedy, a movie star, perfectly elegant and one of the sweetest and most likable singers of the 20th century.

The Quiet One  ( Bill Wyman - Rolling Stones)

by Oliver Murray 2019

Throughout his three-decade career as a founding member of and bassist for The Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman was known to the world as the “quiet one” in the band. Now, the famously private music legend speaks out about his extraordinary life and experiences as part of “the greatest rock and roll band in the world.” Opening up his vast personal archive—a lifetime’s worth of previously unseen home movies, photographs, and memorabilia—Wyman reflects on his early years with The Stones, the band’s meteoric rise to fame, and his search for a sense of “normalcy” amidst the whirlwind of sex, drugs, and rebellion. Endearingly humble and down-to-earth, Wyman pulls back the curtain to offer a one-of-a-kind perspective on life as a reluctant rock star.

Getting It Back : The Story of Cymande 

2022

"Cymande" is a top band that you've probably never heard of, and this is an incredible and hitherto untold story about them.

The band from South London was founded by musicians who came to Great Britain from the Caribbean, members of the so-called of the Windrush generation, led by Patrick Patterson (guitar) and Steve Scipio (bass). Combining jazz, funk, soul and Caribbean rhythms, they created a new sound.

Despite the great success they achieved in the USA with their first three albums, in Britain they were met with prejudice and a lukewarm response and, disillusioned, disbanded in 1975. But their music lived on.

New generations of British and American musicians began to discover their revolutionary sound and to sample and cover their compositions, and their music gained new fans.

The story of these unsung heroes, illustrated with archival footage, is told in this film through recent interviews with the original band members, filmed over two years.

And yes, I never heard of them...

Neither did I until I watched this music documentary about them 

Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd

by Storm Thorgerson, Roddy Bogawa , 2023 

The life of Syd Barrett, one of the founders of "Pink Floyd", was shrouded in mystery. At least so far. The feature-length documentary, set in the social context of the rebellious sixties, tells the story of the meteoric rise of a music star, his creativity and self-destructiveness, breakdown, leaving the group and the life of a loner.

The film features recent interviews with Syd's friends, lovers, family and bandmates, Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason. The composition of "Pink Floyd" found itself at the epicenter of the explosion of the underground music scene in the 60s of the last century. The psychedelic "house band" of the London club "UFO", with Syd Barrett as the enigmatic frontman, inspired musicians such as David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Although he gave the band its name, wrote its first two hits and was the lead vocalist and guitarist, Barrett was kicked out of the band by the other members who were convinced that he had suffered a nervous breakdown due to the consumption of LSD.

Justin Bieber: Our World

by  Michael D. Ratner ,2021

Justin Bieber: Our World takes viewers backstage, onstage and into the private world of the global superstar as he prepares for a record-breaking New Year’s Eve 2020 concert. After a three-year hiatus from a full concert, Bieber delivers an electrifying performance on the rooftop of the Beverly Hilton Hotel for 240 invited guests —and millions of fans across the globe watching via livestream. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Michael D. Ratner, the94minute documentary follows Bieber and his team for the month leading up to the show as they rehearse and construct a monumental stage set. The film also captures personal self-shot moments between Bieber and his wife Hailey through the artist’s own lens.

Pink: All I Know So Far

by Michael Gracey, 2021

The film follows Pink on her Beautiful Trauma World Tour, as she balances being a performer with her role as a mother, wife, and boss. It mixes footage from the road, behind the scenes interviews, and personal material. On the tour, Pink played 156 shows in 18 countries. The film is produced by Michael Gracey and Isabella Parish, with Luminaries, Silent House, and Lefty Paw Print.

George Michael