The 7 Most Tragic Musician Biopics

ComingSoon.net has decided to check out some of the best musician biopics from the past. Check out our picks in the gallery below!

All too often, a musician’s life can consist of tragedy after tragedy. It’s impossible to tell if these sorts of horrible happenings are drawn to stardom or if these creative types are simply equal parts lucky and unlucky, but one thing remains fact: that there are plenty of examples of singers, artists, and instrumentalists who lived horrible lives despite their massive successes.

It seems a little exploitative to take advantage of these tragedies for financial gain, but it happens all the time in the feature film industry. For whatever reason, producers seem to feel that these stories make for great movies. While that does tend to be the case oftentimes, that doesn’t make it okay. These are some of the best instances of biographical features about musicians who lived incredibly sad lives.

Which of these biopics is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

Tragic music biopics

Bird (1988)

One of Clint Eastwood’s most underrated directorial efforts, Bird is a biopic that stands above the rest. It’s hard to enjoy movies like Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocketman when great music movies like this exist.
Control (2007)

Following the later years of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, Control is as hard to watch as one might imagine.
Notorious (2009)

The Notorious B.I.G. managed to make some very significant contributions to music before being killed at the young age of 24. This 2009 feature perfectly captures the travesty of it all.
Selena (1997)

Dubbed the Queen of Tejano, the story of Selena is stranger than fiction—it makes sense why they’d make a movie about her (and a well-done movie, at that).
Sid and Nancy (1986)

Tracking the relationship between Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, Sid and Nancy perfectly captures all the tragedy that surrounded the two.
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1988)

Probably the most unique entry in this slideshow, Todd Haynes uses Barbies as a way to portray the real emotions that Karen Carpenter felt as she rose to stardom—these are the same emotions eventually led to her death.
The Pianist (2002)

Adrien Brody proved his worth with this immensely sad film—based on the true story of a Holocaust survivor and musical prodigy, The Pianist is as tragic as it gets.