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Excited for Spinal Tap 2?! Here's some more movies about bands & musicians.

This summer, Spinal Tap 2 will be released, 41 years after the original film. While the reviews are not yet in, fans of music, comedy, and satire are excited to see what the band has been up to. The rest of the films run the gamut of comedies, such as HEAVY TRIP, to heartfelt tributes of musical geniuses (Joe Strummer & Dreamers Never Die), to the big award-winning films (Straight Outta Compton & Bohemian Rhapsody). I hope you enjoy this list of films about real and imagined musical legends.

Pima County Public Library

15 items

  • This Is Spïnal Tap

    a Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi

    "It's a fine line between stupid and clever." - Spinal Tap
    DVD, 2000Santa Monica : MGM Home Entertainment [distributor], [©2000] — DVD This
  • A comedy/road trip/heavy metal adventure story. After years of playing songs by other artists, the opportunity of a concert in Norway encourages a metal band to compose their own material, but not before overcoming some unexpected difficulties.…
    Streaming Video, 2018Music Box Films, 2018
  • "The world is full of kings and queens who'll blind your eyes and steal your dreams." Ronnie James Dio.
    DVD, 2023[Place of publication not identified] : Mercury Studios, [2023] — 782.42166 D81 2023 DVD
  • Joe Strummer

    the Future Is Unwritten

    'I'm proud of all our records. Even the crap ones." Joe Strummer
    DVD, 2008[New York] : Sony BMG Music Entertainment, [2008] — 781.66092 J59 2008 DVD
  • A documentary that follows Bobby Liebling, lead singer of heavy metal band Pentagram, as he battles decades of hard drug addiction and personal demons.
    DVD, 2012[United States] : MPI Media Group, [2012] — 92 L662 2012 DVD
  • The Beatles

    Get Back

    The Beatles: Get Back is a trilogy of documentary miniseries directed and produced by Peter Jackson. It covers the making of the Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be.
    DVD, 2022[Burbank, California] : Disney, [2022] — 782.42166 B3806 2021 DVD
  • Movies include: Bohemian Rhapsody (about Queen); The Doors (one of the BEST rock-biopics; Ray (about Ray Charles); Elton John: Rocket Man; Straight Outta Compton (NWA); Walk The Line (Johnny Cash). 6 movies in 1 box.
    DVD, 2020[United States] : Binge Box, [2020] — DVD Binge
  • Joan Jett is best known as the frontwoman of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and for her earlier work with the all-female band The Runaways.
    DVD, 2018Los Angeles, CA : Magnolia Home Entertainment, [2018] — 781.66 B14 2018 DVD
  • Once Were Brothers

    Robbie Robertson and The Band

    A confessional, cautionary, and occasionally humorous tale of Robbie Robertson's young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music, The Band.
    DVD, 2020[Los Angeles, California] : Magnolia Home Entertainment, [2020] — 92 R545 2020 DVD
  • Fanny

    the Right to Rock

    FANNY: The Right to Rock reveals the untold story of a Filipina American garage band that morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny, who almost became the female Beatles.
    DVD, 2022New York, NY : Film Movement, [2022] — 782.42166 F216 2022 DVD
  • Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
    DVD, 2014Beverly Hills, CA : Anchor Bay Entertainment, [2014] — 781.64092 T9186 2013 DVD
  • A documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history.
    Streaming Video, 2017Kino Lorber, 2017. — Streaming Video
  • A look at the New York City punk-rock scene and the venerable nightclub, CBGB.
    Streaming Video, 2013Giant Pictures, 2013. — Streaming Video
  • A live performance of the band Talking Heads shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December of 1983 and featuring their most memorable songs.
    Streaming Video, 1984Foundation Sales and Consulting, 1984. — Streaming Video
  • Three teenage rebels form an all-girl punk band in 1980s Stockholm, despite having no instruments and being told that punk is dead.
    Streaming Video, 2014Magnolia Pictures, 2014. — Streaming Video