# The 44 Best Music Documentaries of All Time

> Some of these films caught a band at its peak; others caught it falling apart on camera. Oscar winners share space with cult tour tapes.

*By YPB Team · Published October 30, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-44-best-music-documentaries-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Stop Making Sense** — score 1000/1000
   Jonathan Demme's 1984 Talking Heads concert film, built song by song from a bare stage and a big suit.
2. **Gimme Shelter** — score 955/1000
   The Maysles brothers' 1970 film of the Rolling Stones' US tour, ending in the violence at Altamont.
3. **Wattstax** — score 907/1000
   Mel Stuart's 1973 film of the Stax Records benefit concert in Los Angeles, the so-called Black Woodstock.
4. **The Last Waltz** — score 660/1000
   Martin Scorsese's 1978 film of The Band's farewell concert with Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and more.
5. **The Beatles: Get Back** — score 610/1000
   Peter Jackson's 2021 docuseries restoring the Beatles' January 1969 sessions and rooftop concert.
6. **Muscle Shoals** — score 610/1000
   Greg 'Freddy' Camalier's 2013 film about the Alabama studios where Aretha, the Stones and others cut classics.
7. **Rolling Thunder Revue** — score 610/1000
   Scorsese's playful 2019 film of Dylan's 1975 tour, mixing real footage with invented characters.
8. **1991: The Year Punk Broke** — score 610/1000
   Dave Markey's 1992 tour film of Sonic Youth and a pre-fame Nirvana across European festivals.
9. **The Filth and the Fury** — score 553/1000
   Julien Temple's 2000 retelling of the Sex Pistols story in the band's own words.
10. **End of the Century** — score 553/1000
   The 2003 story of the Ramones, punk's founding band, and the feuds that kept them going.
11. **Amy** — score 553/1000
   Asif Kapadia's Oscar-winning 2015 portrait of Amy Winehouse, assembled from home videos and voice recordings.
12. **Style Wars** — score 553/1000
   Tony Silver's 1983 PBS film on New York graffiti and breakdancing at hip-hop's birth.
13. **Sound City** — score 553/1000
   Dave Grohl's 2013 tribute to the Van Nuys studio and its famed Neve console.
14. **Monterey Pop** — score 553/1000
   Pennebaker's 1968 film of the Monterey festival, with Hendrix setting his guitar alight and Otis Redding's triumph.
15. **No Direction Home** — score 488/1000
   Martin Scorsese's 2005 film on Bob Dylan's rise through 1966 and the electric backlash.
16. **The Velvet Underground** — score 488/1000
   Todd Haynes's 2021 split-screen history of the Velvet Underground and the Warhol Factory scene.
17. **Cobain: Montage of Heck** — score 488/1000
   Brett Morgen's 2015 collage of Kurt Cobain's home tapes, journals and animation.
18. **Anvil! The Story of Anvil** — score 488/1000
   Sacha Gervasi's 2008 film about an aging Canadian metal band still chasing its big break.
19. **Dont Look Back** — score 488/1000
   D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 vérité portrait of Bob Dylan on his 1965 tour of England.
20. **Madonna: Truth or Dare** — score 488/1000
   Alek Keshishian's 1991 behind-the-scenes look at Madonna's Blond Ambition tour.
21. **The Kids Are Alright** — score 488/1000
   Jeff Stein's 1979 career-spanning compilation of the Who's most explosive performances.
22. **Searching for Sugar Man** — score 413/1000
   Malik Bendjelloul's 2012 Oscar winner about the forgotten Detroit singer Rodriguez and his South African fame.
23. **Moonage Daydream** — score 413/1000
   Brett Morgen's 2022 immersive kaleidoscope of David Bowie's life built from unseen archive footage.
24. **The Decline of Western Civilization** — score 413/1000
   Penelope Spheeris's 1981 document of the Los Angeles punk scene with Black Flag, X and the Germs.
25. **Miss Americana** — score 413/1000
   Lana Wilson's 2020 Netflix portrait of Taylor Swift finding her political voice.
26. **Summer of Soul** — score 413/1000
   Questlove's Oscar-winning 2021 film resurrecting footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival.
27. **Amazing Grace** — score 413/1000
   Aretha Franklin's 1972 gospel recording in a Los Angeles church, finally released in 2018.
28. **The Sparks Brothers** — score 413/1000
   Edgar Wright's affectionate 2021 survey of Ron and Russell Mael's fifty-year career as Sparks.
29. **Buena Vista Social Club** — score 413/1000
   Wim Wenders's 1999 film about the veteran Cuban musicians reunited by Ry Cooder.
30. **Woodstock** — score 325/1000
   Michael Wadleigh's Oscar-winning 1970 record of the three-day festival that defined a generation.
31. **Living in the Material World** — score 325/1000
   Martin Scorsese's 2011 two-part portrait of George Harrison's music and spiritual search.
32. **Homecoming** — score 325/1000
   Beyonce's 2019 film of her landmark Coachella headline set and its making.
33. **Sign o' the Times** — score 325/1000
   Prince's 1987 concert film, widely rated among the greatest live performances ever filmed.
34. **I Am Trying to Break Your Heart** — score 325/1000
   Sam Jones's 2002 black-and-white film of Wilco making Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and getting dropped by their label.
35. **What Happened, Miss Simone?** — score 325/1000
   Liz Garbus's Oscar-nominated 2015 portrait of Nina Simone's music, activism and turmoil.
36. **This Is It** — score 325/1000
   Kenny Ortega's 2009 film of Michael Jackson's final rehearsals for his London residency.
37. **Beats, Rhymes & Life** — score 325/1000
   Michael Rapaport's 2011 film on the creative peaks and bitter splits of A Tribe Called Quest.
38. **Some Kind of Monster** — score 222/1000
   The 2004 fly-on-the-wall chronicle of Metallica nearly falling apart in group therapy.
39. **Meeting People Is Easy** — score 222/1000
   Grant Gee's 1998 bleak, dreamlike chronicle of Radiohead's exhausting OK Computer tour.
40. **20 Feet from Stardom** — score 222/1000
   Morgan Neville's Oscar-winning 2013 film about the backup singers behind rock and soul classics.
41. **Dig!** — score 222/1000
   Ondi Timoner's 2004 Sundance winner about the rivalry between the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre.
42. **Standing in the Shadows of Motown** — score 0/1000
   Paul Justman's 2002 tribute to the Funk Brothers, the uncredited session band behind Motown's hits.
43. **Jazz on a Summer's Day** — score 0/1000
   Bert Stern's 1959 film of the Newport Jazz Festival with Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson and Chuck Berry.
44. **Supersonic** — score 0/1000
   Mat Whitecross's 2016 account of Oasis's rise from Manchester to the 1996 Knebworth shows.

Tags: movies, music, rock, documentary, concerts