It’s just a fact — music sounds better when you know the story behind it. And some truly spellbinding tales are retold in amazing music documentaries you can stream right now!
Whether you’re drawn to mysteries, biographies or a little bit of backstage chaos, PEOPLE has put together a “movie mixtape” of the very best music docs. Like any good playlist, it spans decades and genres, guaranteeing something for everyone.
Some films offer a closer look at artists we thought we knew, revealing the heartbreaks, triumphs and private struggles that shaped their work. Others revisit pivotal moments in music history, exploring movements, festivals and freak occurrences that changed the industry forever. And a few dig into what happens when creative partnerships spark to life — and occasionally explode.
Read on for some standout music documentaries currently available to stream.
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
courtesy everett collection
It’s one of those moments that seems more like a fever dream than something that actually happened. One night in January 1985, 46 of the biggest artists in music descended on a small Hollywood studio, passed under Quincy Jones’ handwritten sign urging everyone to check their egos at the door and worked through the night on a single song. Granted, the song in question was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, two of the brightest stars in music.
This endlessly entertaining film by Bao Nguyen delivers all of the behind the scenes details — and drama — that you could ever want, from Bob Dylan’s stage fright to the King of Pop’s snake (seriously), Prince’s no-show status and Cyndi Lauper’s wardrobe difficulties. The resulting song went on to become the fastest-selling single in U.S. pop history, ultimately raising more than $80 million for African famine relief.
The documentary doesn’t just recount how it happened — it lets you feel the delirium, tension, camaraderie and sheer weirdness of the most star-studded all-nighter in history.
Watch The Greatest Night in Pop on Netflix.
One to One: John and Yoko (2025)
Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
One to One: John & Yoko arrived at a moment (April 2025) when it felt as if there was little new left to say about the Beatles, yet the film manages to be both revelatory and daring. Co-directed by Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards, the documentary explores perhaps the least celebrated period of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s life: their first 18 months as New Yorkers.
The couple landed in August 1971, stepping into a turbulent, often overlooked period defined by political activism, public scrutiny,and personal strain. Their shockingly accessible Greenwich Village home became a magnet for activists, artists and eccentrics urging them to champion countless causes — many of which they embraced with charming naïveté. At the same time, Lennon and Ono were navigating a post-Beatles identity crisis and watching the idealism of the ’60s collide with the harsher realities of the Nixon era, including the administration’s efforts to deport them.
The documentary showcases a pair of newly restored concerts from August 1972, featuring Lennon’s only full-length performances outside the Beatles. Interwoven throughout are previously unheard phone calls the couple taped to guard against FBI surveillance. They capture candid conversations that reveal Ono’s private anguish as she searched for her daughter, Kyoko, who’d been kidnapped by her estranged ex-husband. Together with period news clips and vintage ads, these elements both evoke an era and the spirit of two artists at a crossroads, questioning what comes after revolution.
Watch One to One: John and Yoko on Hulu.
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (2025)
Shauna Gold/ABC
Drawing on more than 600 hours of archival footage and new interviews with original performers like Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Indigo Girls and Jewel, director Ally Pankiw’s documentary details the short life and long legacy of the groundbreaking women-only festival. Launched by Sarah McLachlan in 1997 as a challenge to the music industry’s deep-rooted gender bias, the touring lineup quickly became a phenomenon.
Pankiw’s film is loaded with euphoric performance footage from the festival’s three original summers, while also underscoring just how controversial the concept was at the time. In a new interview, McLachlan recalls fielding one repeated question from a skeptical (and deeply sexist) media: “Why do you hate men?” Poignant and nostalgic, the documentary reveals how the movement helped reshape the music world and paved the way for the current generation of female artists to define the mainstream.
Watch Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery on Hulu.
Amy (2015)
Asif Kapadia’s documentary Amy lingers long after its 128-minute running time, not because it reframes Amy Winehouse’s well-known tragedy, but because it restores her humanity. Though the story of this recent entry into the dreaded “27 Club” is as familiar as it is heartbreaking, the plentiful performance clips remind us there was nothing common about her extraordinary talent.
The film’s real power comes from the emotional weight it builds through intimate, previously unseen footage: Winehouse as a teenager napping in cars, goofing around at the mall and singing “Happy Birthday” to friends. Her raw vulnerability, sensuality, romanticism and humor shine through these moments in a way that feels both vivid and devastating. By refusing to mythologize her as a distant diva, Amy confronts us with how painfully human she really was.
Watch Amy on Amazon Prime.
Devo (2024)
Director Chris Smith (Fyre, Tiger King) shows why the wonderfully weird new-wave act is so much more than “Whip It” one-hit wonders. Devo traces the Ohio art-school collective’s evolution from post-punk performance artists to one of the most subversive acts of the ’80s. They harnessed the nascent MTV era to beam their singular blend of deadpan humor, futurism and pop precision into suburban living rooms and beyond.
Through archival footage, early experimental films and new interviews with bandmates Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, the documentary reveals how the group’s concept of “de-evolution” eerily anticipated a 21st-century culture ruled by technology and conformity.
Watch Devo on Netflix.
Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop (2023)
This electrifying four-part series is a long-overdue salute to the women who’ve shaped 50 years of rap, from its earliest block parties to today’s chart-topping dominance. Uplifting and empowering, the documentary features an all-star lineup of emcees, producers, scholars and cultural voices delivering insight after insight.
Legends and hitmakers like Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Saweetie, Tierra Whack, Remy Ma and Monie Love reflect on craft, identity and resilience — and then back it up with killer performances. Part history lesson and part celebration, the series urges viewers to recognize the women who built hip-hop and broaden who gets credit and visibility in its ongoing story.
Watch Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop on Netflix.
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story (2024)
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“Don’t put in anything phony in the movie,” Liza Minnelli told filmmaker Bruce David Klein as he began production on this documentary. “Don’t make me look like a phony.” Klein kept his promise, delivering an unflinching — though suitably glittery — portrait of the showbusiness icon.
The film traces her ascent as perhaps the quintessential nepo-baby, from growing up in the long shadow of Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli to weathering her mother’s devastating early death. It devotes ample time to her key creative partnerships with mentors like Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb and Halston, while charting her evolution into an Oscar-winning, stage-stomping triple threat — even as addiction threatened to derail her brilliance.
The result is a tribute to Liza’s resilience behind the rhinestones, a documentary that’s equal parts razzle-dazzle and raw humanity.
Watch Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story on Amazon Prime.
ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke (2018)
Those who prefer their music docs with a dash of mystery are encouraged to check out Netflix’s excellent ReMastered series. The eight full-length documentaries cover intriguing topics ranging from the unsolved murder of hip-hop pioneer Jam Master Jay to the mysterious premature death of bluesman Robert Johnson and Johnny Cash’s political tussle with Richard Nixon.
But among the most startling installments is this exploration of the soul icon’s shooting in a seedy Los Angeles motel in 1964. Though ruled a justifiable homicide, conflicting witness accounts, missing evidence and an allegedly mismanaged police investigation have cast doubt on the official story.
Watch ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke on Netflix.
20 Feet from Stardom (2013)
While many documentaries chase star wattage, filmmaker Morgan Neville takes the opposite approach, turning the spotlight on the unsung backing singers behind (literally) the biggest names in music, on tour and in the studio. Featuring interviews with Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Claudia Lennear and others, the film draws a striking contrast between their electrifying lives onstage — commanding stadiums alongside Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones — and their often humbling off-stage realities, from substitute teaching to cleaning houses just to make ends meet.
It also digs into the idea that not everyone who creates is motivated by the lure of fame. “Some people will do anything to be famous,” vocalist Lisa Fischer says in one poignant moment. “I just wanted to sing.”
(Bonus recommendation: Fans of this will also enjoy The Wrecking Crew, a loving portrait of the L.A. session musicians who played on dozens of Top 10 hits throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s.)
Watch 20 Feet from Stardom on Amazon Prime.
Gimme Shelter (1970)
Jeff Hochberg/Getty
The landmark documentary by Albert and David Maysles is often credited with laying the foundation for the modern rock doc — and for good reason. the brothers capture the Rolling Stones’ 1969 U.S. tour with their trademark cinéma vérité style, offering an unvarnished, fly-on-the-wall look at rock superstardom just as it reached its most volatile point.
What begins as an electrifying portrait of the band onstage and in transit gradually darkens as the filmmakers chronicle the planning and disastrous execution of the free Altamont Speedway concert that December. The footage of the show — including the fatal stabbing of concertgoer Meredith Hunter by members of the Hell’s Angels — remains some of the most chilling ever captured in music history.
The Maysles brothers avoid narration or commentary, instead letting the band watch the footage with them, creating an eerie, meta layer of reflection and disbelief that was far ahead of its time. In the process, Gimme Shelter became not just a record of a tour, but a requiem for the 1960s counterculture and its utopian promise. More than 50 years later, it still stands as a masterclass in documentary filmmaking and a defining moment in the evolution of rock journalism.
Watch Gimme Shelter on HBO Max.
