Pick a Day

Music History Events: Movies

June 24, 2022 The movie Elvis, directed by Baz Luhrmann, hits theaters, starring Austin Butler as Presley. The soundtrack includes new songs by Eminem ("The King and I") and Doja Cat ("Vegas") along with Elvis songs in their original form and in new versions by the likes of Kacey Musgraves ("Can't Help Falling In Love") and Måneskin ("If I Can Dream").

November 25, 2021 The Beatles: Get Back, a three-part series comprised of outtakes from their Let It Be documentary, debuts on Disney+. Directed by Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings), it provides a very detailed look at the 1969 recording of their album Let It Be.

October 17, 2020 Directed by Spike Lee, the film version of David Byrne's American Utopia, which ran on Broadway from October 2019 to February 2020, debuts on HBO. Many of the songs from Stop Making Sense, the concert film Byrne did with the Talking Heads, are also in this one, but a showstopper is a cover of Janelle Monáe's "Hell You Talmbout," which ties into the Black Lives Matter movement.

October 4, 2019 The blockbuster film Joker becomes the first film to use "Rock And Roll Part 2" since Gary Glitter's 2015 conviction for pedophilia. Many in the UK, where Glitter's crimes are well-known, are outraged because it earns the disgraced glam rocker substantial royalties.

September 25, 2019 The first installment of Ken Burns' eight-part documentary series Country Music airs on PBS. The film chronicles the evolution of the genre from the early "hillbilly" musicians of the '20s with Fiddlin' John Carson through the New Traditionalists of the '90s with Garth Brooks.

April 5, 2019 The Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace is finally released in theaters, 47 years after it was recorded in 1972.More

October 12, 2018 The biographical film First Man, inspired by the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong, debuts in US theaters. R&B singer Leon Bridges appears as jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron, reciting the poem "Whitey On The Moon."

January 12, 2018 The movie Proud Mary opens in theaters with the tagline, "killing for the Man every night and day." John Fogerty is not pleased, tweeting his disapproval.More

November 4, 2016 Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani lend their voices to the animated film Trolls. Timberlake plays Branch, a paranoid troll who's in love with a princess, while Stefani is resident disc jockey DJ Suki.

March 4, 2016 Shakira makes her feature-film debut, voicing the pop star Gazelle in the Disney animated movie Zootopia. She also contributes the song "Try Everything" to the soundtrack.

December 25, 2015 Concussion, a biographical drama starring Will Smith as a doctor who exposes the risk of traumatic brain injuries in football players, debuts in theaters. Soul singer Leon Bridges wrote the tune "So Long" for the movie.

July 10, 2015 The documentary Amy is released. The film, directed by Asif Kapadia, chronicles the short life of British singer Amy Winehouse. Hard-living Winehouse won five Grammy awards for her 2006 album Back To Black. She died at the age of 27 from alcohol poisoning in 2011.

October 11, 2013 Lady Gaga makes her movie debut playing shape-shifting assassin La Camaleon in the Robert Rodriguez action-crime flick Machete Kills.

June 20, 2012 The film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter sees its theatrical release in the United States, notable in the music world for having "Powerless" by Linkin Park playing over the end credits.

May 18, 2012 Rihanna makes her big-screen acting debut playing a naval weapons specialist in the action/sci-fi movie Battleship. It earns her a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress.

October 14, 2011 The remake of Footloose opens in US theaters. The new film is energetic and sexy and earns better critical acclaim than its forebear. Starring Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough, the film also resurrects the title-theme song with a cover by Blake Shelton.

October 5, 2011 The Martin Scorsese documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World premieres on HBO. Ringo Starr says in the film: "He had the bag of love-beads personality and the bag of anger."

July 18, 2011 The romantic comedy Friends With Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, premieres in New York City. The soundtrack includes the Semisonic tune "Closing Time," which Timberlake sings in the movie.

October 1, 2010 Justin Timberlake portrays Napster co-founder Sean Parker in the Oscar-nominated film The Social Network, which depicts the founding of Facebook.

November 6, 2009 The Lee Daniels film Precious, starring Gabourey Sidibe as an abused teen, debuts in the US. It features supporting roles by Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz (the movie inspires his song "Push"), and the soundtrack spawns the single "I Can See In Color" by Mary J. Blige.

July 16, 2009 At the Latitude Festival, held every year in Henham Park in Suffolk, England, Noah and the Whale debut their feature-length film The First Days of Spring. The film accompanies their new record of the same name due out in August. Written and directed by lead singer Charlie Fink, the film stars model Daisy Lowe, the daughter of fashion designer Pearl Lowe and Gavin Rossdale, lead singer for the alt-rock band Bush.

March 21, 2009 The movie Northern Lights, starring LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, debuts on Lifetime as rumors of the stars' extramarital affair are swirling in the press. They end up divorcing their spouses and marrying each other.

September 30, 2008 Disney releases Nightmare Revisited, a cover album of songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The new album commemorates the fifteenth anniversary of the film's original 1993 release and features new arrangements by KoRn, Amy Lee of Evanescence, and Marilyn Manson.

December 21, 2007 Tim Burton's film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opens in US theaters. Johnny Depp stars as the Demon Barber himself, and manages to earn the respect of critics for his singing performance on the film's soundtrack.

December 1, 2005 Rocky Horror Picture Show is entered into the National Film Registry.

December 29, 2004 Beyond the Sea, a musical about the life of Bobby Darin, debuts in US theaters. Darin superfan Kevin Spacey - who co-wrote, directed, and starred in the film - does his own singing. 45-year-old Spacey is a little old to be playing Darin, who was only 37 when he died.

January 21, 2004 The warts-and-all Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster makes its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.More

January 9, 2004 Miley Cyrus makes her movie debut in Tim Burton's Big Fish, playing 8-year-old Ruthie. She's credited as "Destiny Cyrus."

December 19, 2003 Tori Amos makes her film debut in the Julia Roberts movie Mona Lisa Smile. In her cameo as a '50s big band singer at a wedding reception, she sings the standards "You Belong To Me" and "Murder, He Says," which also appear on the movie's soundtrack.

December 9, 2003 After the runaway success of the bluegrass soundtrack for O Brother Where Art Thou?, producer T Bone Burnett helms another Appalachian-inspired album for the Civil War movie Cold Mountain. Alison Krauss sings the Sting-written "You Will Be My Ain True Love" and "The Scarlet Tide," both of which are nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.