\n<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Michael Jackson\u00a0biopic\u00a0Michael<\/em> has pulled further ahead of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody <\/em>as the top-grossing musician biopic of all time. As of Sunday (July 12), Michael<\/em> has grossed $1.002 billion. Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em> has grossed $911 million.<\/p>\n Moreover, Michael <\/em>has topped Oppenheimer<\/em> to become the top-grossing biopic (not just the top-grossing musician biopic) of all time. <\/em>Christopher Nolan\u2019s 2023 biopic of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II, has grossed $975.8 million worldwide.<\/em><\/p>\n According to Box Office Mojo figures, international ticket sales account for 62.9% of Michael<\/em>\u2019s worldwide boxoffice total to date. (The remainder is from the U.S. and Canada.) By way of comparison, international ticket sales accounted for 76.2% of Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em>\u2019s worldwide boxoffice total.<\/p>\n Jackson has a long history of ranking No. 1 on lists, dating back to\u00a0The Jackson 5\u00a0landing their first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with \u201cI Want You Back\u201d in January 1970.<\/p>\n Jackson and Mercury have much in common. Both rose to fame in groups, The Jackson 5 and Queen, respectively. Both are widely seen as two of the greatest showmen of all time. And both died years before their time. Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 of complications from AIDS. Jackson died in 2009 at age 50 of cardiac arrest caused by acute propofol intoxication.<\/p>\n The two superstars crossed paths in the early 1980s, when Jackson attended Queen concerts in Los Angeles. They occasionally met for dinner and even recorded three demo tracks together that went unfinished.<\/p>\n Another common bond: There were successful theatrical productions based on both artists\u2019 music. The Queen musical, We Will Rock You<\/em>, opened on London\u2019s West End in 2002. MJ: The Musical<\/em> has been a fixture on Broadway since Dec. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n Also: Graham King, who co-produced\u00a0Michael<\/em>\u00a0with longtime Jackson associates John Branca and John McClain (who died on May 26 at age 71), also co-produced\u00a0Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em>\u00a0and a third music biopic on Billboard<\/em>\u2019s list of music biopics,\u00a0Jersey Boys<\/em>, the story of\u00a0the Four Seasons.<\/p>\n Here is that list \u2013 the highest-grossing biopics of musicians in terms of worldwide box office. We didn\u2019t include a few high-grossing films about real-life music personalities because the subjects are not well-known music stars in their own right. These include\u00a0The Sound of Music<\/em>\u00a0(which tells the story of Maria von Trapp and the Trapp Family Singers);\u00a0Green Book<\/em>\u00a0(which deals with a road trip taken by pianist and composer Don Shirley)<\/em>;\u00a0Florence Foster Jenkins<\/em>\u00a0(about an heiress and hopelessly untalented soprano by that name); and\u00a0Music of the Heart<\/em>\u00a0(about violinist and music educator Roberta Guaspari). Meryl Streep starred in the latter two films.<\/p>\n Here are the 25 biopics of music stars with the highest worldwide grosses.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$35.8 million Director:<\/strong> Gregory Nava<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Dave Grusin<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Rising star Jennifer Lopez starred as Tejano music star Selena, who rose from cult status to performing at the Houston Astrodome. The film includes her shocking murder at age 23 at the hands of former fan club president Yolanda Sald\u00edvar. The soundtrack reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$36 million Director:<\/strong> Scott Hicks<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> David Hirschfelder<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Geoffrey Rush won an Oscar for best actor for playing pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture. The soundtrack reached No. 59 on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$39 million Director:<\/strong> Herbert Ross<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> John Kander, Fred Ebb, Peter Matz<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> This was the less-celebrated, but still popular, sequel to 1968\u2019s Funny Girl. <\/em>Barbra Streisand reprised her Oscar-winning role as Fanny Brice and James Caan played showman Billy Rose. The film spawned an Oscar-nominated song, \u201cHow Lucky Can You Get.\u201d The film soundtrack reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: D. Stevens \/ \u00a9Buena Vista Pictures \/ Courtesy Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$39.1 million Director:<\/strong> Brian Gibson<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Stanley Clarke<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Angela Bassett received an Oscar nomination for best actress for playing the indomitable Tina Turner in this biopic. Laurence Fishburne received an Oscar nod for best actor for playing her abusive husband Ike Turner. The film drew its title from Turner\u2019s biggest hit, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in 1984 and won Grammys for record and song of the year. The film soundtrack reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and spawned a top 10 hit on the Hot 100, \u201cI Don\u2019t Wanna Fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$44.4 million Director:<\/strong> George Tillman Jr.<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Danny Elfman<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Jamal Woolard starred as Christopher Wallace (a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G.) in this biopic. After rising to the top of the rap music world, Biggie was shot to death at age 24 in 1997. Angela Bassett, Derek Luke and Anthony Mackie also starred in the film. The soundtrack reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\tWorldwide gross: <\/strong>$45.2 million<\/p>\n \n\tDirector: <\/strong>Scott Cooper<\/p>\n \n\tMusic: <\/strong>Jeremiah Fraites\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tNotes:<\/strong> Jeremy Allen White, the Primetime Emmy-winning star of The Bear<\/em>, stars as Bruce Springsteen in this film which focuses on the period following his commercial breakthrough The River<\/em>, where Springsteen felt compelled to make a low-key, acoustic album, Nebraska<\/em>. The film was written and directed by Scott Cooper and is based on the 2023 book Deliver Me from Nowhere<\/em> by Warren Zanes, with some elements drawn from Springsteen\u2019s 2016 autobiography Born to Run<\/em>. The film also stars Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham and Odessa Young. The film received mixed reviews from critics, though the performances of White and Strong received praise. <\/strong>The music was supervised by Fraites, co-founder of\u00a0The Lumineers\u00a0and a songwriter for the band. Like The Boss, Fraites was born and raised in New Jersey.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$46 million Director:<\/strong> Rupert Goold<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Gabriel Yared<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Ren\u00e9e Zellweger won an Oscar for best actress for playing Judy Garland in this film. The irony: Garland never won a competitive Oscar, despite two nominations, one in the same category in which Zellweger won. Judy<\/em> wasn\u2019t a standard biopic, but a look at the last year of her life, when she arrived in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts. Zellweger was nominated for a Grammy for the soundtrack, in the category of best traditional pop vocal album.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\tWorldwide gross:<\/strong> $52.2 million<\/p>\n \n\tDirector:<\/strong> William Wyler<\/p>\n \n\tMusic:<\/strong> Jule Styne, Bob Merrill<\/p>\n \n\tNotes:<\/strong> Barbra Streisand won an Oscar for her motion picture debut in which she played Fanny Brice, a top star of the vaudeville era. \u201cMy Man\u201d and \u201cI\u2019d Rather Be Blue,\u201d both featured in Funny Girl<\/em>, were hits for Brice in the 1920s. Streisand won best actress in a tie (still the only one in the history of the category) with Katharine Hepburn, who won for The Lion in Winter<\/em>. \u201cHello, gorgeous,\u201d Streisand began her speech, before graciously adding: \u201cAnd I\u2019m very honored to be in such magnificent company as Katharine Hepburn.\u201d Funny Girl<\/em> received eight nominations, including best picture and best original song for \u201cFunny Girl.\u201d The film soundtrack reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 and spent more than two years on the chart.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$52.3 million Director:<\/strong> Milo\u0161 Forman<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Tom Hulce received an Oscar nomination for best actor for playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but lost to F. Murray Abraham, who had the showier role as Antonio Salieri, who was insanely jealous of Mozart\u2019s talent. The film received 11 Oscar nominations and won eight awards, including best picture and best director for Milo\u0161 Forman. Peter Shaffer also won best adapted screenplay for adapting his stage play, which had won five Tony Awards in 1981. The double-disc soundtrack, credited to conductor\/arranger Neville Marriner, reached No. 56 on the Billboard 200 and won a Grammy for best classical album.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: \u00a9 Columbia\/courtesy Everett Collection\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$54.2 million Director:<\/strong> Luis Valdez<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Carlos Santana, Miles Goodman<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Lou Diamond Phillips starred as Chicano music star Ritchie Valens who died at age 17 in the same plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. The film is titled after a Mexican folk song, which Valens completely transformed with his rock and roll rendition in 1958. Valens\u2019 version reached No. 22 on the Hot 100 in 1959. (It was not his biggest hit. That was \u201cDonna,\u201d which reached No. 2.) The film soundtrack, credited to Los Lobos, topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks in 1987. Los Lobos\u2019 zesty recording of \u201cLa Bamba\u201d topped the Hot 100 for three weeks and received Grammy nominations for record and song of the year.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross:<\/strong> $55.7 million Director:<\/strong> Benny Boom<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> John Paesano<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Demetrius Shipp Jr. starred as Tupac Shakur in this film, with Jamal Woolard reprising his role as Christopher \u201cThe Notorious B.I.G.\u201d Wallace from Notorious<\/em>. Shipp\u2019s father worked on music videos with 2Pac, who was shot to death in 1996 at age 25. The film drew its title from 2Pac\u2019s 1996 double-disc album, his second to top the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\tWorldwide gross: <\/strong>$59.8 million<\/p>\n \n\tDirector:<\/strong> Kasi Lemmons<\/p>\n \n\tMusic:<\/strong> Chanda Dancy<\/p>\n \n\tNotes:<\/strong> Naomi Ackie starred in this film, which arrived 10 years after Houston\u2019s shocking death. Stanley Tucci co-starred as Clive Davis, who signed Houston to Arista Records in 1983 when she was just 19. Davis oversaw her tremendous rise but was unable to prevent her tragic fall. The film is titled after Houston\u2019s 1987 single that topped Billboard<\/em>\u2019s 2023 list of The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$67.2 million Director:<\/strong> Michael Apted<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Owen Bradley<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for best actress for playing country queen Loretta Lynn. The film received seven Oscar nominations, including best picture. Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D\u2019Angelo and Levon Helm had supporting roles. Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, and Minnie Pearl made cameo appearances as themselves. The film was based on a 1976 biography of Lynn by George Vecsey also titled Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter<\/em>. Both the book and the film drew their titles from Lynn\u2019s signature hit, which reached No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s Hot Country Singles chart (as it was called then) in December 1970. The soundtrack reached No. 40 on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$67.6 million Director:<\/strong> Clint Eastwood<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Bob Gaudio<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Clint Eastwood directed and co-produced this film adaptation of the blockbuster stage musical, which opened on Broadway in 2005. The biopic about The Four Seasons starred John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli, Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio, Michael Lomenda as Nick Massi and Vincent Piazza as Tommy DeVito. The film didn\u2019t get nearly as much awards love as the stage musical did. The musical won four Tony Awards including best musical and best actor in a musical for Young. The film didn\u2019t land a single Oscar nod. Valli and Gaudio served as executive producers of the film. The soundtrack reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$86.1 million Directors:<\/strong> Andrew & Jon Erwin<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Brent McCorkle<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Michael Finley starred as Bart Millard, the lead singer of the contemporary Christian band MercyMe. Millard wrote the title song about his relationship with his father, played by Dennis Quaid. The song reached No. 71 on the Hot 100 and charted for 18 weeks. At the 2018 Dove Awards, the film, which also starred Trace Adkins and Cloris Leachman, won inspirational film of the year.<\/p>\n A 2026 sequel, I Can Only Imagine 2<\/em>, grossed $18.7 million worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\tWorldwide gross: <\/strong>$87.5 million<\/p>\n \n\tDirector: <\/strong>Olivier Dahan<\/p>\n \n\tMusic: <\/strong>Christopher Gunning<\/p>\n \n\tNotes: <\/strong>Marion Cotillard won an Oscar for her role as the French singer who recorded the 1947 classic that gave the film its title. The song reached No. 23 on Billboard<\/em>\u2019s pre-Hot 100 pop chart in 1950. (Piaf also had one Hot 100 entry, \u201cMilord,\u201d in 1961.) The literal translation of \u201cLa Vie En Rose\u201d is \u201cLife in Pink,\u201d a figurative reference to\u00a0rose-colored glasses.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Worldwide gross: <\/strong>$124 million Director:<\/strong> Taylor Hackford<\/p>\n Music:<\/strong> Craig Armstrong<\/p>\n Notes:<\/strong> Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for best actor for playing Ray Charles, the genre-bridging musician who lived up to the label \u201cgenius,\u201d which was often bestowed on him. The film received six Oscar nominations, including best picture. Taylor Hackford directed and co-produced the film, and co-conceived the story. The soundtrack reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and won a Grammy for best compilation soundtrack album for motion picture, television or other visual media.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \n\tWorldwide gross:<\/strong> $140.5 million<\/p>\n \n\t\n
Selena<\/em> (1997)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nShine<\/em> (1996)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFunny Lady<\/em> (1975)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s Love Got to Do With It<\/em> (1993)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nNotorious<\/em> (2009)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nSpringsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere<\/em> (2025)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Judy<\/em> (2019)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFunny Girl<\/em> (1968)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Amadeus<\/em> (1984)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0La Bamba<\/em> (1987)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nAll Eyez on Me<\/em> (2017)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nWhitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody<\/em> (2022)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Coal Miner\u2019s Daughter<\/em> (1980)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nJersey Boys<\/em> (2014)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nI Can Only Imagine<\/em> (2018)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nLa Vie En Rose<\/em> (2019)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Ray<\/em> (2004)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nA Complete Unknown<\/em> (2024)<\/strong><\/h2>\n