The recently released Love & Mercy – a biographical film depicting Brian Wilson, the enigmatic genius and creative driving force of The Beach Boys – is receiving rave reviews from critics and moviegoers alike.

Paul Dano’s depiction of a young Wilson is creating Oscar buzz, while John Cusack has also garnered praise for his portrayal of a 1980s-era Wilson.

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The music biopic has traditionally been a difficult genre in which to succeed. Few achieve widespread acclaim, most fall into the fair-to-middling category, while some are enough to make even the most devoted fan switch off halfway through.

We’ve trawled through the film archives to honour 10 of the greatest music biopics of all time – and a couple of the more lamentable offerings.

Walk the Line (2005)

Grossing a mammoth $186 million at the box office, few music biopics have lived up to expectations as emphatically as Walk the Line, which starred Joaquin Phoenix as country music megastar Johnny Cash. Phoenix’s hypnotic, urgent portrayal and Reese Witherspoon’s dazzling performance as June Carter Cash earned the duo a string of awards and nominations, including a Best Actress Oscar for Witherspoon. 

La Vie en Rose (2007)

Marion Cotillard’s performance as the complicated, beloved and iconic French singer Edith Piaf garnered a Best Actress Oscar. La Vie en Rose, named after Piaf’s signature song, chronicles the life of Piaf, who died in 1963 from liver cancer, aged just 47. The film also features French screen legend Gerard Depardieu as Louis Leplée, who discovered a 20-year-old Piaf singing on a street corner.

Notorious (2009)

Although not universally acclaimed, the film depicting the life and murder of Christopher Wallace – better known as rapper The Notorious B.I.G. – was a raw and unapologetic representation of Wallace’s struggles with poverty, drug-dealing and fatherhood, and ‘Biggie’s’ rap-star decadence, womanising, and 1997 murder at the height of the East Coast/West Coast rap feud.

Control (2007)

The Anton Corbijn-directed Control charts the life and early death of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, who committed suicide aged 23 in 1980 – just a month before the post-punk icons’ best-known song Love Will Tear Us Apart was released. Relative unknown Sam Riley won a stack of awards for his portrayal of Curtis.

Ray (2004)

Jamie Foxx won a Best Actor Oscar (among a host of other awards) for his depiction of legendary blind soul singer Ray Charles in Ray, one of the most commercially successful and critically praised music biopics of all time. The film confronts Charles’ tumultuous childhood, rise to fame, drug use, troubled romantic history and civil rights contributions. Charles died just four months before the release of Ray, which grossed $125 million worldwide.

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

The charming story of Loretta Lynn’s path from poverty in rural Kentucky to the mantle of ‘queen of country music’ was a box office hit and a darling of the critics. Sissy Spacek, who ousted Meryl Streep for the lead role, won an Academy Award for her performance in Coal Miner’s Daughter. The Simpsons episode ‘Colonel Homer’ was partly based on the film.

I’m Not There (2007)

I’m Not There features a star-studded cast of Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whislaw, who all play folk-rock luminary Bob Dylan at different junctures of his illustrious career. The ambitious project was well-received by critics – and the troubadour himself – despite struggling at the box office. 

Sid & Nancy (1986)

Depicting the tragic, drug and violence-addled love story of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, a fellow junkie, Sid & Nancy attained cult classic status despite underperforming at the box office. Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb were lauded for their gritty and poignant performances in the eponymous roles.

24 Hour Party People (2002)

24 Hour Party People focuses on the ‘Madchester’ post-punk/new-wave movement of the 1980s, the emergence of rave culture and, in particular, Factory Records, which had the likes of Happy Mondays, Joy Division and New Order on its books. Steve Coogan brilliantly plays Factory head Tony Wilson, who takes creative license with the facts and frequently breaks the ‘fourth wall’, but is irresistibly entertaining. 

Behind the Candelabra (2013)

Starring Michael Douglas as eccentric pianist Liberace and Matt Damon as his young chauffeur and lover Scott Thorson, Behind the Candelabra aired as an HBO special in the US and received a cinematic release worldwide. The film, roundly applauded by critics, centres on Liberace’s turbulent relationship with Thorson.

DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS 

Beyond the Sea (2004)

Kevin Spacey acquired the rights for a film about 1950s singer/actor heartthrob Bobby Darin, and opted to star in the lead role himself at the age of 44. Unfortunately, his performance was more K-Pax than American Beauty, and Beyond the Sea was a box office bomb.

Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story (2001)

Most films that regularly feature in ‘Worst Music Biopics’ lists (The Doors, The Runaways, Great Balls of Fire, Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story) generally still get a run in the odd ‘Best Music Biopics’ countdowns. Not so Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story. Cornier than the band’s TV show but without any of the charm or kitsch value, perhaps the film’s greatest achievement was finding actors that resembled Davy Jones and co. so closely.