They did movies too.
by knight1192a | created - 22 Jan 2015 | updated - 11 Jul 2016 | PublicA list of live action movies that featured musicians and singers/rappers.
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1. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Musical
Over two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live TV performance.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Votes: 48,068 | Gross: $13.78M
A comedy that was supposed to show us the typical day in the life of the Beatles. A Hard Day's Night was released during the height of Beatlemania and also featured a young extra who would themselves go on to become a major musician, Phil Collins.
2. Hook (1991)
PG | 142 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When Captain James Hook kidnaps his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins
Votes: 273,185 | Gross: $119.65M
What does Hook have in common with A Hard Day's Night? Phil Collins appears in both. Though unlike the Beatles' film, he had a credited role in this film.
3. Tommy (1975)
PG | 111 min | Drama, Musical
A psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute boy becomes a master pinball player and, subsequently, the figurehead of a cult.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Elton John
Votes: 22,629 | Gross: $34.25M
In addition to Townsend, Moon, Daltrey, and Entwistle, the film version of the Who's rock opera also included Tina Turner, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Arthur Brown, and actress and singer Ann-Margret. Of course being a musical it probably isn't that surprising Tommy would have that much musical talent involved.
4. Help! (1965)
G | 92 min | Adventure, Comedy, Musical
Sir Ringo Starr finds himself the human sacrifice target of a cult, and his fellow members of The Beatles must try to protect him from it.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Votes: 21,111 | Gross: $13.08M
A year after A Hard Days' Night John, Paul, George, and Ringo were back with Help!
5. Dick Tracy (1990)
PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
Director: Warren Beatty | Stars: Warren Beatty, Madonna, Al Pacino, Charlie Korsmo
Votes: 65,724 | Gross: $103.74M
Madonna appears as Breathless Mahoney. At the time of the movies release the pop star was in the middle of her Blond Ambition Tour and she worked the film into the tour.
6. Labyrinth (1986)
PG | 101 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old Sarah must solve a labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is taken by the Goblin King.
Director: Jim Henson | Stars: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson
Votes: 149,537 | Gross: $12.73M
Jim Henson had wanted a musician for the role of Jareth the Goblin King. Though a number of other well known muscians were considered for the role, Henson's children eventually convinced him that David Bowie was the right choice.
7. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,306,272 | Gross: $210.61M
Music played a big part of this movie, what with Marty aspiring to be a rock star and the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in 1955. By now most of us know that the guy who told Marty and his band, the Pinheads, that their rendition of Huey Lewis and the News' Power of Love was too loud was, ironically, Huey Lewis himself. So he got paid both for preforming two songs for the soundtrack and for his brief cameo in the film.
8. Back to the Future Part II (1989)
PG | 108 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Tom Wilson
Votes: 572,366 | Gross: $118.50M
Red Hot Chili Peppers co-founder continues the musical cameos in the second installment of the trilogy as Needles, the guy who gets Old Marty fired in 2015.
9. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
PG | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Wilson
Votes: 480,636 | Gross: $87.73M
Flea returns as Needles for the final installment of the trilogy and it's shown he's responsible for how Marty would have turned out in 2015 if the timeline at the end of the first movie had remained the same. However, perhaps more memorable was the old west band made up of Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons, and Frank Beard. So the Old West band was actually the real band ZZ Top.
10. Memphis Belle (1990)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, War
In 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in the UK prepares for its 25th and final bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney
Votes: 30,519 | Gross: $27.44M
Tail gunner Staff Sgt. Clay Busby is a pretty good singer and piano player. Maybe that's because the role marks the film debut of Harry Connick, Jr.
11. Hard to Hold (1984)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A famous rock star falls in love with a child psychologist who has ears only for the classics, and has never heard of him.
Director: Larry Peerce | Stars: Rick Springfield, Janet Eilber, Patti Hansen, Albert Salmi
Votes: 798
Three years after Jessie's Girl came out Springfield starred as rock star James Roberts. Not much of a stretch for Springfield.
12. Battlestar Galactica (1978)
PG | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Mankind, the last major fighter carrier leads a makeshift fugitive fleet on a desperate search for the legendary planet Earth.
Directors: Richard A. Colla, Alan J. Levi | Stars: Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, Herbert Jefferson Jr.
Votes: 10,758
Technically a theatrical release of the series pilot released in Canada, Australia, Europe, and some Latin American nations months before the pilot aired on TV in the US. Both the theatrical release and the TV release included a young pilot named Zac played by Rick Springfield, who had released his first album six years before. Three years later Springfield's Jessie's Girl became a number one hit in the US and Australia.
13. Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
PG | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Ambitious but diminutive motorcycle cop John Wintergreen patrols the Arizona highways, yearning for promotion to Homicide Detective, while investigating a murder tied to hippies.
Director: James William Guercio | Stars: Robert Blake, Billy Green Bush, Mitchell Ryan, Jeannine Riley
Votes: 6,422 | Gross: $1.60M
Produced and directed by James William Guercio, who at the time the film was released also happened to be the manager for the rock group Chicago. That probably explains why Chicago's Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Lee Loughnane, and Walter Parazaider appeared in the movie.
14. Evita (1996)
PG | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The hit musical based on the life of Eva Perón (Evita Duarte), a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Domingo Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Madonna, Jonathan Pryce, Antonio Banderas, Jimmy Nail
Votes: 37,569 | Gross: $50.05M
Perhaps one of Madonna's best known film roles, if not her best known role. Madonna would win a Golden Globe for her performance in this movie.
15. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
PG-13 | 169 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, find Jack Sparrow, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush
Votes: 693,258 | Gross: $309.42M
Johnny Depp was partially inspired in his role of Jack Sparrow by The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards. So the third movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise Richards was introduced as Captain Teague, Sparrow's father.
16. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush
Votes: 563,952 | Gross: $241.06M
After appearing in the third movie of the franchise, Keith Richards returns for the fourth.
17. Poetic Justice (1993)
R | 109 min | Drama, Romance
Grieving hairdresser Justice goes on a road trip from South Central L.A. to Oakland on a mail truck alongside her friend and an obnoxious postal worker.
Director: John Singleton | Stars: Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Regina King, Joe Torry
Votes: 16,624 | Gross: $27.52M
As she was already appearing on TV before releasing her debut album, it should be little surprise that Janet Jackson would do movies. Poetic Justice would actually mark her film debut. Rapper Tupac Shakur would also appear in this movie. Though unlike Jackson it would not be his first film.
18. Love Me Tender (1956)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
At the end of the Civil War, a Confederate team is ordered to rob a Union payroll train but the war ends leaving these men with their Union loot, until the Feds come looking for it.
Director: Robert D. Webb | Stars: Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Elvis Presley, Robert Middleton
Votes: 4,710 | Gross: $4.50M
Love Me Tender marked the theatrical debut of Elvis Presley. It also marked the only time the King of Rock and Roll did not receive top billing in one of his movies.
19. Change of Habit (1969)
G | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Music
As an incognito nun tries to help a doctor clean up an inner-city ghetto, the pair grow closer with time.
Director: William A. Graham | Stars: Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara McNair, Jane Elliot
Votes: 2,719
Change of Habit would mark the last non-documentary film Elvis would make in his film career.
20. White Christmas (1954)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen
Votes: 51,123 | Gross: $30.00M
The perennial Christmas favorite understandably featured some noted musicians. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney all star in this hit. Irving Berlin's White Christmas took it's title from the song of the same name, which had appeared twelve years before in Berlin's Holiday Inn starring Crosby and Fred Astaire. This movie was loosely based on the earlier one and both Crosby and Astaire were offered the lead roles in it. Astaire turned down the role of Phil Davis, which eventually went to Danny Kaye.
21. Holiday Inn (1942)
Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
At an inn which is open only on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.
Directors: Mark Sandrich, Robert Allen | Stars: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale
Votes: 17,625 | Gross: $8.18M
Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn would star Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. However, it would be one song from the film which would become a bigger hit movie for Crosby twelve years later.
22. Buck Privates (1941)
Passed | 84 min | Comedy, Musical, War
Two sidewalk salesman enlist in the army in order to avoid jail, only to find that their drill instructor is the police officer who tried having them imprisoned.
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lee Bowman, Jane Frazee
Votes: 4,730 | Gross: $4.00M
This Abbot and Costello vehicle just happens to feature LaVerne, Maxene, and Patty Andrews. The Andrews Sisters play themselves in the movie and preform one of their biggest hits, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Although most of us probably assume Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was released after the U.S. entered WWII, Buck Privates was released in January of '41. So the iconic WWII Andrews Sisters song was before the US entered the war.
23. Private Buckaroo (1942)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Musical
A Universal Army enlistment promotion, produced as a musical showcase for Harry James, the Andrews Sisters, Joe E. Lewis, and Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. The film's thin plot has James ... See full summary »
Director: Edward F. Cline | Stars: Harry James, Patty Andrews, Maxene Andrews, Laverne Andrews
Votes: 573
Another of a number of WWII films the Andrews Sisters made during the war years. This one also features Big Band leader Harry James in a credited and Helen Forrest in an uncredited role. Forrest, who at the time was a vocalist for James' band, became known as the "voice of the name bands" after having preformed with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and James.
24. Blazing Saddles (1974)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Western
In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman
Votes: 152,429 | Gross: $119.50M
In a cameo as Sheriff Bart is riding to Rock Ridge we see the legendary Count Basie and his Orchestra playing April in Paris.
25. Ocean's Eleven (1960)
Approved | 127 min | Comedy, Crime, Music
Danny Ocean gathers a group of his World War II compatriots to pull off the ultimate Las Vegas heist. Together the eleven friends plan to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford
Votes: 25,195 | Gross: $12.32M
A Rat Pack movie, the original Ocean's 11 certainly fits the list with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and cameos of Shirley MacLaine and Red Norvo.
26. The Cannonball Run (1981)
PG | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Sport
A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks.
Director: Hal Needham | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise
Votes: 39,934 | Gross: $72.18M
Given the fact that Cannonball Run was an ensemble piece it really shouldn't be a shocker that it would feature singers. Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. had prevalent roles in the movie with Mel Tillis being almost as prevalent at the start of the movie. Bert Convy, probably better known as a gameshow host than for his early singing career, also has a role in the movie as half of the race's motorcycle "newlywed" team.
27. Cannonball Run II (1984)
PG | 108 min | Action, Comedy
The original characters from The Cannonball Run (1981) race across the country once more in various cars and trucks.
Directors: Hal Needham, Ralph Bakshi | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.
Votes: 17,428 | Gross: $28.08M
Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Mel Tillis returned for the sequel, which this time included Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Sid Caesar. Cannonball Run II is the last movie members of the Rat Pack appeared in together.
28. Hello, Dolly! (1969)
G | 146 min | Adventure, Comedy, Musical
Matchmaker Dolly Levi travels to Yonkers to find a partner for "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder, convincing his niece, his niece's intended, and his two clerks to travel to New York City along the way.
Director: Gene Kelly | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Marianne McAndrew
Votes: 16,956 | Gross: $7.24M
Of course it's hard not to mention Barbra Streisand when mentioning Hello, Dolly! on this list. But within the movie Streisand preforms the title song with Satchmo himself, Louis Armstrong. This movie also features Michael Crawford.
29. The Preacher's Wife (1996)
PG | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An angel comes to Earth to help a preacher save his church and his family.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines
Votes: 13,726 | Gross: $48.10M
This remake of The Bishop's Wife featured Whitney Huston and her mother Cissy Huston, Lionel Richie, Gregory Hines, Jenifer Lewis, and Loretta Devine.
30. Six Pack (1982)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A race car driver is driving to a race in a motor home with his race car on a trailer. His car gets stripped of parts. He ends up with 6 orphan kids on his way to the race.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Kenny Rogers, Diane Lane, Erin Gray, Barry Corbin
Votes: 3,378 | Gross: $20.23M
Besides starring in the movie Kenny Rogers unsurprisingly sings the theme song Love Will Turn You Around. As far as movies go Rogers tended to do more TV movies and is probably best known for The Gambler series of movies.
31. Orchestra Wives (1942)
Approved | 98 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Connie Ward is in seventh heaven when Gene Morrison's band rolls into town. She is swept off her feet by trumpeter Bill Abbot. After marrying him, she joins the bands tour and learns about ... See full summary »
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, Lynn Bari
Votes: 1,146
Glenn Miller was deliberately given a role where his character's initials were the same as his own so the Glen Miller Orchestra could used their monogramed music stands. Dale Evans and the vocal group The Modernaires (best known for playing with Miller and his orchestra) also appear in this movie.
32. Sister Act (1992)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Family, Music
When a nightclub singer is forced to take refuge from the mob in a convent, she ends up turning the convent choir into a soulful chorus complete with a Motown repertoire, until the sudden celebrity of the choir jeopardizes her identity.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith, Harvey Keitel, Bill Nunn
Votes: 108,354 | Gross: $139.61M
The movie about a lounge singer put into witness protection in a convent and ends up singing in the church choir. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that some of the nuns in the choir were actually singers as well as actresses. This includes Susan Johnson, Beth Fowler, Darlene Koldenhoven, and Ruth Kobart. Also appearing in the movie would be Jenifer Lewis.
33. Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Family, Music
Showgirl Deloris Van Cartier returns as Sister Mary Clarence to teach music to a group of Catholic students whose run-down school is slated for closure.
Director: Bill Duke | Stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Najimy, Maggie Smith, Barnard Hughes
Votes: 58,463 | Gross: $57.32M
A year after the original came out the sequel would see Delores Van Cartier roped back into her witness protection persona of Sister Mary Clarence to help save a local Catholic school. While many of the original cast returned, the new movie's student choir would include Lauryn Hill, Ryan Toby, Tanya Blount, and, Jennifer Love Hewitt (whose album Love Songs had come out in Japan the same year as the original Sister Act hit theaters in the US). A competing choir would also include Erica Campbell. Playing as Lauryn Hill's mother would be Sheryl Lee Ralph.
34. Beaches (1988)
PG-13 | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.
Director: Garry Marshall | Stars: Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, John Heard, Spalding Gray
Votes: 28,873 | Gross: $57.04M
Another unsurprising choice for this list is Beaches due to the fact that it stars Bette Midler. It also features Jenifer Lewis, who just four years before had been a member of Midler's backup singers the Harlettes. Laine Kazan also appears in the movie.
35. Spice World (1997)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Family, Music
World-famous pop group the Spice Girls zip around London in their luxurious double-decker tour bus having various adventures and performing for their fans.
Director: Bob Spiers | Stars: Mel B, Emma Bunton, Melanie C, Geri Horner
Votes: 37,828 | Gross: $29.34M
Similar to the Beatles movies, Elvis' movies, and The Who's Tommy, Spice World was a theatric vehicle for the Spice Girls (Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Emma Bunton, Melanie C, and Geri Halliwell). But in addition to the Spice Girls the movie also featured Meat Loaf, Bob Geldof, Elton John, and Elvis Costello.
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