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Music documentaries have been among the hottest and most lauded programming recently, from Peter Jackson’s epic dissection of the making of The Beatles’ “Let It Be” in “Get Back” to Questlove’s Oscar-winning revisitation of the star-packed 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in “Summer of Soul.”
And the hits just keep on coming. Among the performers getting the video-retrospective treatment this year are backup-singer-turned-star Sheryl Crow, revered rappers Lizzo and XXXTentacion, multi-talented Latin titan Jennifer Lopez, metal icon Ronnie James Dio and country rebel Tanya Tucker.
Here’s a look at 19 new music docs vying for your eyes and ears in 2022:’Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me’
Although perhaps best known of late for her star turn alongside comedy veterans Steve Martin and Martin Short in “Only Murders In the Building,” singer and actress Selena Gomez has been especially forthright about her health battles, both physical and mental.
In this documentary, Gomez explores topics that include her lupus diagnosis and resulting mental health challenges, which include bipolar disorder. Expect a story focused on human resilience. As Gomez told Elle magazine last year, “My lupus, my kidney transplant, chemotherapy, having a mental illness, going through very public heartbreaks – these were all things that honestly should have taken me down.”
Director: Alek Keshishian
Where to watch: Apple TV+, Nov. 4’Love, Lizzo’
Lizzo’s rise to fame was as meteoric as they come, landing on the charts on the wings of hits such as “Truth Hurts,” “Good as Hell” and the impossibly catchy “Juice.” But her seemingly instant success was paved with years of hard work.
HBO Max is tackling the three-time Grammy winner’s life in a film that will track Lizzo (born Melissa Viviane Jefferson) and her ride from classically trained flautist to hit-making rapper. The doc will explore her creative influences as well as the challenges of being in the spotlight. As Lizzo once lamented in an Instagram post, “I’m seeing negativity directed towards me in the most weirdest way, people saying (stuff) about me that just doesn’t even make sense. It’s fat-phobic and it’s racist and it’s hurtful.”
Director: Doug Pray
Where to watch: HBO Max, Nov. 24’Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl’
Shania Twain is part of a select group of Canadian sirens who crossed over onto U.S. charts (cue Alanis Morissette and of course Celine Dion), thanks to country-rocking hits such as “You’re Still the One” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” In “Not Just A Girl,” the singer’s story is laid out in detail, from her Ontario roots to her breakthrough work with veteran rock producer (and then husband) Mutt Lange.
The documentary delves into issues such as singer temporarily losing her voice to Lyme disease and touches on surreal turns in her personal life. (Twain divorced Lange when he fell for her best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud, then she wound up marrying Thiébaud’s former husband.)
Director: Joss Crowley
Where to watch: Netflix’Clusterf—: Woodstock ’99’
The title lays out the focus in crisp language. After the towering cultural success of the original Woodstock in 1969, little surprise that promoters sought to recapture that magic with encore fests using that haloed name, starting with a fairly well executed 25-year anniversary show in 1994.
But in 1999, the manure hit the fan. The three-part docuseries aims to peel back the curtain on what was supposed to be a millennium-defining celebration of peace, love and great music. Instead, the festival degenerated into a chaos of fires, riots and destruction. Anchored to insider footage and eyewitness interviews with festival staffers, performers and attendees, this doc puts a spotlight on the egos, greed and music that fueled three days of madness.
Director: Jamie Crawford
Where to watch: Netflix’Machine Gun Kelly’s Life in Pink’
This doc promises a look at the highs and lows of an artist chasing music’s top spot while tackling the demands of stardom and fatherhood. While the triumphs include MGK’s platinum-selling album “Tickets to My Downfall” and his most recent studio album “Mainstream Sellout,” the challenges, as “Life in Pink” shows, include a fractious relationship with the media, peers and even fans, who sometimes threw cups and branches at him in concert.
The Houston-born musician shares his joys (his daughter) and torments (many) in the film, including the revelation that in 2020, while on the phone with his now-fiancée Megan Fox, he was so suicidal that he put a shotgun in his mouth.
Director: Sam Cahill
Where to watch: Hulu’Sheryl’
Sheryl Crow’s career has been a winding road, from her early days as a back up singer on Michael Jackson’s “Bad” tour and Don Henley’s early solo efforts to her own chart-topping career and even a much-scrutinized relationship with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.
Anchored to both contemporary interviews and archival footage, “Sheryl” promises a look back at how the talented singer-songwriter navigated those often rough waters, which includes her “hard-fought musical career battling sexism, depression, perfectionism, cancer, and the price of fame.”
Director: Amy Scott
Where to watch: On demand, Showtime’Women Who Rock’
Women have rocked as hard as men since the genre took flight, whether you’re talking about the gritty bombast of Elvis favorite Big Mama Thornton or the ethereal yowl of Heart lead singer Ann Wilson.
