20 movies that were vehicles for musicians

It was the fourth version of “A Star is Born,” but this was the first one to really focus on musicianship. While Bradley Cooper making his directorial debut got a lot of the attention — and skepticism — Lady Gaga came in for some skepticism as well. Stefani Germanotta had done some acting, but of the gimmicky variety — “Machete” and Ryan Murphy TV shows and the like. “A Star is Born” was a huge hit, Cooper got a blank check to keep directing, and Gaga was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars.

We started with a success story because, well, we knew we’d be jumping to an outright fiasco. The first season of “American Idol” was a massive phenomenon, but nobody really knew yet what winning “American Idol” could mean. As such, FOX gave season one winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini a movie. You know, even though they were barely professional musicians and not at all actors. “From Justin to Kelly” feels slapped together and was a bomb. They never again tried to turn “American Idol” winners into movie stars. Eventually they stopped trying to turn them into music stars, to be honest.

Elvis Presley became known as an actor, though always in service of his music career. It had to start somewhere, though. “Love Me Tender” was the first movie Elvis acted in, much less starred in. Notably, the movie’s title was changed from “The Reno Brothers” to “Love Me Tender” after the to-be titular song became the first-ever single to sell one million copies. Let’s not get into the fact that Presley plays the youngest of four brothers and his three older brothers all fight in the Confederate army.

Much as how Dwayne Johnson used to always be billed as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, back in 2002 the co-star of “Goldmember” was billed as Beyonce Knowles. Fresh off emerging from Destiny’s Child, Beyonce was cast alongside Mike Myers in the third Austin Powers movie. “Goldmember” is kind of a mess, but Beyonce did handle herself well as Foxxy Cleopatra.

Casting an actual music star as a fictional music star (and also fictional Oscar-nominated actress) made sense. Whitney Houston stepped into that role, with Kevin Costner at the peak of his powers as the titular bodyguard. Houston was only so-so in the acting department, but that didn’t really matter. “The Bodyguard” soundtrack remains the best-selling soundtrack in history because Houston belted out a cover of “I Will Always Love You” that became a piece of cultural iconography.

David Bowie had a flair for the theatrical and for presenting himself as different characters in his music career, so it was only a matter of time until somebody offered him an acting gig. Nicolas Roeg cast Bowie as the lead in his moody sci-fi film “The Man Who Fell to Earth.” It’s very-‘70s sci-fi, and Bowie almost feels pre-typecast as an alien who comes to Earth. The movie ended up not rising above cult favorite, but eventually Bowie would be in “Labyrinth” and, of course, “Zoolander.”

There are movies that are vehicles for musicians, and then there are movies that are vehicles for musicians. In “A Hard Day’s Night,” the Beatles play themselves. Or, rather, heightened versions of themselves. They played Beatles songs from the album of the same name, which was released as a soundtrack album for the film. Beatlemania was at its peak, so the Beatles got to make a movie in which they were the Beatles. And yet, remarkably, it’s actually quite good!

Cher would eventually win an Oscar for “Moonstruck,” but she was already well into her movie career by then so that was Cher the actor, not Cher the musician getting a vehicle to act. In “Good Times,” released 20 years earlier, both Cher and Sonny Bono play themselves. It’s basically a sketch-comedy film built around Sonny and Cher. The movie was a bomb, but “Good Times” is still a notable cinematic footnote. This was the first feature film directed by William Friedkin. Yes, the guy who directed “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist.”

The only surprise is that it took until 2002 for Britney Spears to star in a movie. She had already released three hit albums by then! Frankly, while we didn’t know it at the time, she had peaked as a pop star by the time “Crossroads” came out. The film was successful at the box office, though helped by the fact it was made on the cheap, but it was panned by critics and Spears never really acted again.

Jennifer Lopez’s acting career has been longer and more successful than Spears' (though they have pretty even marriage records, all things considered). While Lopez had acted in a couple movies prior to “Selena,” including in “Jack,” this was her first real vehicle as an actor, and it paired well with her surging as a musician. It helped Lopez to establish herself as a potential leading lady that she got to play the famed Tejano musician Selena in her first major role.

Prince is playing Prince so much in “Purple Rain” it’s easy to forget that he isn’t actually playing Prince. No, he’s playing “The Kid.” The Kid just happens to be reminiscent of Prince, and he makes music just like Prince’s music. People didn’t really care, because the soundtrack for “Purple Rain” ripped. It was really a way for Prince to deliver his music to people in a different way.

Contrary to the anecdote, “Glitter” was not released on September 11. No, it was released on September 21, a totally normal time to go to the movies. It’s the “Glitter” soundtrack that was released on September 11. Also, the Mariah Carey vehicle didn’t tank because of national tragedy. It tanked because it is a terrible movie and Carey is bad in it.

Eminem became a force in rap, which gave him a cinematic opportunity. While his rapping is often sophomoric, “8 Mile” was a serious drama, a thinly-veiled biopic of Eminem’s rise. The movie was critically acclaimed, and “Lose Yourself” won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Eminem was good in the film, but he hasn’t really done much acting after that.

The original Mad Max trilogy wasn’t about star power. Don’t forget that Mel Gibson was an unknown when the first movie came out. By the time “Thunderdome” came around, though, we did get a bit of stunt casting. Tina Turner plays Aunty Entity, the ruler of Bartertown. You know, where Thunderdome happens. Turner is solid in the film, but “Beyond Thunderdome” is hurt by being PG-13 in an R-rated universe.

The late John Singleton was nominated for Best Director for “Boyz n the Hood,” his directorial debut. At the time of his nomination, Singleton was 24 years old. Yes, 24. One of the stars of this decade-defining film was Ice Cube. At the time, he still had his reputation as an intimidating gangsta rapper. Now, he’s a guy who has been acting for years and done family comedies.

“Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” is all about the Ramones. They don’t star in it, though they do appear in it. It’s all about the punk band, though. Riff Randell is a massive Ramones fan, a Ramones concert is heavily featured and, briefly, the guys do act. Terribly, but they act. The movie is a cult classic for a reason.

As a pop star, Mandy Moore wasn’t as successful as Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. However, her acting career has greatly outpaced her contemporaries (Jessica Simpson too, while we’re at it). The “Candy” singer got her first big acting role with “A Walk to Remember,” based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. It was successful, and she has never stopped acting. That includes, of course, on “This Is Us.”

Before splitting up, the iconic rap duo Outkast tried their most-ambitious project yet. Yes, even more ambitious than “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” Big Boi and Andre 3000 made “Idlewild.” It wasn’t just a strange, thematic album, but a soundtrack to a movie. They also starred in a theatrical musical as well. It is not surprising that after “Idlewild” the duo split up and never made anything new again.

By 1989, “Weird Al” Yankovic had already carved out a genuinely unique career in music. He remains the foremost comedy musician and song parodist to ever do it. Given his comedy focus and the cleverness of his music videos, it’s not surprising that somebody decided to give Yankovic a chance to make a movie. Weird Al starred in “UHF,” which he co-wrote with the film’s director Jay Levey. Levey, by the way, was Yankovic’s manager, so this was truly Weird Al’s vision. The film wasn’t a success at the time, but it is very good, very Weird Al, and to the surprise of nobody has become a cult favorite.

This is a kind of old school offering, “A Very Murray Christmas” for a younger generation. While Nick Jonas has been acting for a while, and Joe Jonas has had a few roles, this is a proper Jonas Brothers movie. The brotherly trio of musicians play themselves in this Christmas musical comedy from Disney+. That is a good place for it to live, as “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie” is fairly slim, if amiable, and works best as something to throw on during the holidays.