Music lovers, unite! A number of new documentaries are being released that offer a glimpse into the most vulnerable moments and celebrated milestones in the artists’ lives.
Disney+ announced this on April 16 Leave it bedirector Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original 1970 film about the Beatles will debut on the platform after restoration.
Hulu is released Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Storya docuseries about the rise of the band – and frontman Jon Bon Jovi‘s vocal cord disorder, which threatens the group’s future. Disney+ turns its focus to the Beach Boys, who are the subject of a film that highlights the group’s humble beginnings as they created “the iconic, harmonious sound… that personified the California dream.”
Celine Dion’s upcoming documentary, which will be released on Prime Video in June, not only provides insight into the singer’s life and career, but also how she deals with the ‘stiff person syndrome’, which she was diagnosed with in 2022.
From in-depth interviews to never-before-seen footage, viewers will be there to relive the moments that turned these artists into the legends we know today.
Here’s what you need to know about these upcoming films.
Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story
The New Jersey band takes center stage in this four-part Hulu docuseries celebrating the business’s 40th anniversary, but it’s not all roses.
In 2022, Jon Bon Jovi underwent surgery for an atrophied vocal cord. While the episodes follow the band’s meteoric rise from Jersey Shore clubs to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the series also outlines the uncertain future the group faces amid the frontman’s recovery.
Through decades of personal videos, unreleased early demos, original lyrics, and newly released photos, you’ll see Bon Jovi in a new light. For Jon Bon Jovi, that’s the most exciting part of all.
“The goal was to be both honest and introspective. I knew we didn’t want to make a cliché rock ‘n’ roll story about the struggle for fame. I wanted an authentic story of our journey,” he said in a press release about the film. “We don’t know how the story ends – that’s scary and what drives me.”
All four episodes of Thank You, Good Night: A Bon Jovi Story streaming April 26 on Hulu
Leave it be
For the first time in more than fifty years, Michael Lindsay Hogg’s 1970 film about the Beatles will appeal to a new audience.
The original film was shot in January 1969 during the recording sessions of Leave it be, in what would be the band’s last album together. More than five decades after its initial release, Hogg gave director Peter Jackson access to nearly 60 hours of behind-the-scenes footage for use in his 2021 Disney+ docuseries. The Beatles: Go Back.
Now fans get to see the original version of Hogg’s film, like Leave it be contains footage not included in Jackson’s docuseries.
“Leave it be was ready for use in October/November 1969, but was not released until April 1970. A month before its release, the Beatles officially split. And so people started watching Leave it be with sadness in their hearts, thinking, ‘I’ll never see the Beatles together again. I will never have that joy again,’ and it greatly darkened the perception of the film,” Hogg said in a press release about the upcoming film. “But how often do you see artists of this stature working together to turn what they hear in their heads into songs.”
Leave it be streaming May 8 on Disney+
The beach boys
Centered around the legendary California group that revolutionized the sound of pop music, The beach boys documentary chronicles the band’s journey to becoming one of the most influential groups in history.
Formed in the early 1960s, the Beach Boys have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide to date. The film features new interviews with surviving members Al Jardine, Mike Love, David Marks, Bruce Johnson and Brian Wilson, who is “super happy with the way the documentary turned out.”
“It really took me back to those days with the boys, the fun and the music. And of course those incredible harmonies,” Wilson said in a press release.
The band will also release an accompanying soundtrack.
The beach boys streaming May 24 on Disney+
I am: Celine Dion
The Grammy-winning superstar, who revealed in 2022 that she has Stiff Person Syndrome, is giving fans a rare glimpse into her life.
Described as an ’emotional, energetic and poetic love letter to music’ I am: Celine Dion promises to be a personal exploration of the singer’s past and present. The film, directed by Academy Award nominated Irene Taylor, will also showcase the extent of Dion’s four-decade career in music while dealing with a life-altering illness.
I am: Celine Dion streaming June 25 on Prime Video
Do you love music documents? You can stream these 2024 highlights here
James Brown: Say it loud
James Brown: Say it loud streams on the A&E app
Kings From Queens: The Run DMC story
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The three-part docuseries shows how three friends from the New York borough of Queens became one of the biggest rap groups of all time. Follow Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and archival interviews with “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, who died in 2002, as they reflect on their roles as hip-hop’s forefathers.
Kings From Queens: The Run DMC story streams on Peacock.
The biggest pop night
Be there that one night in 1985 when the world’s biggest artists came together – Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonders, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross and others – and made history together when they recorded the 1985 megahit “We Are the World” . .”
The biggest pop night streams on Netflix
