The Best Blues Music Movies

Looking for the best movies about blues music? Check out our list of the top picks, including classics and newer releases.

The Best of the Best

There are a lot of great movies out there that feature blues music. But which ones are the best of the best? In this article, we’ll take a look at the top five blues music movies of all time.

Crossroads

Crossroads is a 1986 American musical drama film inspired by the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson. Starring Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca and Jami Gertz, the film was produced by Steve Golin and directed by Walter Hill. The film’s soundtrack featured music by some of the biggest names in blues and rock at the time, including Johnson himself, B.B. King, Ry Cooder, Steve Vai, Bonnie Raitt and Jeff Beck.

The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by John Landis. It stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from “The Blues Brothers” recurring musical sketch on the NBC variety television series Saturday Night Live. The film’s screenplay was written by Aykroyd and Landis. It features musical numbers by rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, and blues singers James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, and John Lee Hooker.

Set in and around Chicago, Illinois, the film tells the story of Jake and Elwood Blues (Belushi and Aykroyd), two brothers searching for work who begin homage to their former bandleader (Charles) while on a “mission from God” to raise $5,000 in order to save the Catholic orphanage in which they were raised. To do so, they reunite their old band (with cubby stalwart Steve Cropper) and help one of their old girlfriends (Franklin) out of a jam at her night club while being targeted by a group of enemies led by Illinois Nazis leader Curt Zimskowitz (Henry Gibson). The film’s soundtrack features more than 50 songs[4] and was released separately as an album. Released on June 20, 1980(three days prior to Belushi’s death from accidental drug toxicity), it was a critical and commercial success grossing over $115 million against its $30 million budget. It is the only musical comedy film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It also won three Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy; Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Belushi; Bagarino was nominated for Best Supporting Actor; best Original Song Score Supervision; Landis won an award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Director.. In 1998 the United States Library of Congress deemed The Blues Brothers “culturally significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry

Ray

Ray is a great movie about the life of Ray Charles. It stars Jamie Foxx in the title role, and he does an amazing job of portraying the singer/musician. The film covers Ray’s entire life, from his childhood in the segregated South to his successful career as a performer. It also touches on his personal struggles with drug addiction and his relationships with women. If you’re a fan of Ray Charles or just enjoy good music movies, then you’ll definitely want to check out Ray.

The Best of the Rest

If you’re a fan of the blues, then you know that there are a lot of great movies out there that feature the genre. While some are better than others, there are a few that stand out above the rest. In this article, we’ll take a look at the best blues music movies of all time.

Cadillac Records

Cadillac Records is a 2008 American drama film directed by Darnell Martin, written by Darnell Martin andicals, except for “Hound Dog”and produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. The film stars Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James, Columbus Short as Little Walter and Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon.

The film chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists in the 1950s Chicago blues scene, including Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Little Walter (Columbus Short), Lucille Bogan (Mos Def), Sonny Boy Williamson II ( enjoy live music in a casual setting.

Get on Up

This 2014 biopic about the life of James Brown features Chadwick Boseman in the title role. The film chronicles Brown’s rise from poverty and abuse to become one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Boseman is joined by a star-studded cast that includes Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, and Dan Aykroyd.

The Help

The Help is a 2011 American period drama film directed and written by Tate Taylor, and adapted from Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 novel of the same name. The film stars Emma Stone as Skeeter Phelan, a young white woman in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s Civil Rights Movement. The film’s predominantly black cast also includes Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Ahna O’Reilly, Cicely Tyson, and Mike Vogel.