15 Music Documentaries About Strong Women

Tina Turner: ‘TINA’

How do you tell a story that’s already famously been told? We saw it on the big screen in 1993 with the release of What’s Love Got To Do With It and then on stage in 2018 with Tina, the Tina Turner Musical, then read about it in her 2018 autobiography My Love Story: Tina Turner. What’s left to learn? As it turns out, a lot.

This is not an easy film to watch, especially given her recent passing, but listening to a survivor talk about the years of brutality she endured should be unsettling. It’s a remarkable story that showcases Tina Turner’s unbelievable belief in herself and her incredible music. The best part is that it ends with the heroine blissfully loved and in love. It’s a must-see.  She’s simply the best.

Beyoncé: ‘Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé’

After making history as the first Black woman to headline Coachella in 2018, Beyoncé gave her fans yet another gift by releasing Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé, a documentary film about the behind-the-scenes of the performance. In the movie, in addition to seeing the “Halo” singer in a new candid light, Beyoncé also talks about the Black experience in the U.S and pays tribute to the many Black women she’s looked up to in her life.

Amy Winehouse: ‘Amy’

If you’re missing the incredibly talent Amy Winehouse a little extra one of these days, Amy, a documentary on the singer’s life, should be a must-watch. The movie, directed by Asif Kapadia, pieces together Winehouse’s complicated life through a series of testimonials and archival footage. 

Female Backup Singers: ’20 Feet From Stardom’

20 Feet From Stardom is a music documentary unlike any other. This movie, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2014, tells the story of backup singers Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Táta Vega, Jo Lawry, and more. The talent behind the talent, if you will. 

Aretha Franklin: ‘Amazing Grace’

This documentary, also recognized as a concert film, shows Aretha Franklin’s incredible performance at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972 for her live album Amazing Grace. A historic moment filled with emotion, heart and so much talent. 

Janet Jackson: ‘Janet Jackson’

Janet Jackson has always tried to keep her personal life as private as possible. But in her documentary, the singer and pop star pulls back the curtain to give fans a look at the life of a music industry legend. Janet goes beyond the gloss of the singer’s stardom, and dives deep into her personal traumas and the scrutiny she endured throughout her life. 

The documentary, available on Lifetime and A&E, shows Jackson at her most vulnerable with never-before-seen footage, photos, and plenty of candid interviews from family, friends, admirers, and collaborators. 

To watch the documentary online, sign up for Hulu + Live TV.

Madonna: ‘Truth Or Dare’

Madonna has unquestionably been one of the most consistent artists in pop culture. The singer became an absolute sex symbol at the height of her career in the ’80s, and hasn’t slowed down since. But in the 1991 documentary, Madonna: Truth or Dare, longtime fans see one of the most holistic portraits of the singer and actress as a maternal figure, business woman, sex symbol and more. 

It’s a totally unvarnished and unfiltered look at a singer who has continuously reinvented herself, while maintaining the uniqueness that catapulted her into the stratosphere. You can rent Madonna: Truth or Dare for $3.99 on Amazon. 

Mary J. Blige: ‘Mary J. Blige’s My Life’

She’s had a decades-long career in the music industry, and yet Mary J. Blige just seems to keep reinventing herself with each new chapter, album, project, you name it. The singer and actress lets her guard down and confronts her past in the documentary Mary J. Blige’s My Life, which reflects on the making of her mid-’90s album. 

It’s a vulnerable portrait of a star who has always seemingly been at the height of her powers. However, what the documentary really highlights is the doubt, fear, and struggle Blige faced to make the album. Along with personal anecdotes, Blige also performs the album live for the first time in this Vanessa Roth production. 

Lady Gaga — ‘Gaga: Five Foot Two’

Lady Gaga seemed like she came out of nowhere when her debut album The Fame dropped in the late 2000s. But the singer and actress has proven that her years of work were the catalyst for her international acclaim and success. While always portraying variations of her Lady Gaga alter ego, the real Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta understands the work and sacrifice it takes to maintain your creativity and fortitude in the face of critics and adversity. 

Gaga: Five Foot Two details each element of what makes this Oscar and Grammy winning performer tick. Columinating in her other-worldly Super Bowl halftime show performance, the documentary follows the singer through making an album, preparing for one of the biggest shows of her life, and more. Check it out on Netflix.

Nina Simone: ‘What Happened, Miss Simone?’

There was never a voice quite like that of Nina Simone, who not only used her singing talents to completely sway a genre of music, but also her influence and platform during the Civil Rights movement. The life of Nina Simone is chronicled in the Oscar-nominated documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?

The 2015 documentary received immense praise for capturing the legacy and influence of Nina Simone — a difficult feat to do in less than two hours time, indeed. The film is available to view on Netflix, and seems like an unmissable piece. 

Pink: ‘All I Know So Far’

We live in a world where the promise of “you can do it all” is a notion both lauded and expected of women, especially so for mothers. We all know the inherent challenges to that desire. So how do you handle that with grace? If you’re a world-famous rock star/songwriter/aerialist like Pink, you take control of the narrative and release a beautiful, honest, realistic look at what life on the road as a touring musician and mom is like. (Hint: it’s so hard that as Pink acknowledges in the film, most women quit touring when they have kids.) 

In All I Know So Far, we see Pink balance simultaneous passions, touring stadiums in Europe and being an active parent, kids, and it must be said, her engaged, present, participating husband, along for the wild ride. She acknowledges the challenges that are evident in both worlds and what makes this documentary so appealing is that she actually doesn’t make it look easy. She embraces the hardships, challenges, and joys by being real and it’s incredibly inspiring.  How and why does she do it? Let’s take Pink’s own words from the film “I enjoy getting up and going and seeing the world with my kids just as much as I enjoy nailing it onstage.” I promise you’ll feel that when you watch this.

The Go Go’s: ‘The Go Go’s’

The most successful female rock band of all time. Let that sink in for a moment.  Of. All. Time. This power pop-punk, new-wave quintet who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments is made up of Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlen, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine, and Gina Schock. The Go Go’s dominated the airwaves in the 1980s with “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” and my personal favorite, “Head Over Heels,” off their back to back genre-defining albums Beauty and the Beat and Vacation.

There was much more to these women and their music than their superbly iconic album covers revealed. Watch this documentary for the music and to see how sex, drugs, and rock & roll, and a passion for music and self-expression surely inspired countless performers who have dared to go where none before The Go Go’s had gone. They’re also going into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year! 

Watch on Showtime.

Billie Eilish: ‘The World’s A Little Bit Blurry’

If you’re thinking “wait, a documentary about Billie Eilish? Already? Isn’t that a tad premature as she’s released one album? Given, it did win Album of the Year at 2020 Grammys but still…” I hear you but urge you to hear me out. To call her rise to stardom meteoric wouldn’t be incorrect and in this documentary, directed by R.J. Cutler of The September Issue, we are shown just how it happened.  What feels like home movies of Billie and her close-knit family, including songwriting/producing partner and brother, Finneas, show how her album, videos, and tours were meticulously created while she managed serious anxiety and health issues. Oh, and she was still but a teen.

It’s a peek-through-the-window view of the making of a decidedly unique and special modern-day pop star that’s perfect for the generation, who needs to know everything about their musical obsessions and excellent for those curious to learn what all the hype is about. It’s legit.

Taylor Swift: ‘Miss Americana’ (Netflix)

When this documentary was released a little over a year ago, Taylor Swift was a hugely successful singer-songwriter who had released 7 albums and won a laundry list of awards. No small feat. Um, in the 14 months since then she’s released TWO MORE critically and commercially acclaimed albums, Folklore and Evermore, and begun the re-recordings of her earlier albums starting with Fearless (Taylor’s Version). No big deal, I mean Folklore just won Album of the Year at The Grammys making it the 3rd time she’s claimed that title – an accomplishment only Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder can also claim. 

But back to this documentary of 2020. Directed by Lana Wilson, Miss Americana shows an artist coming into her own and owning her power and influence in ways she had never been comfortable doing publicly before. Peeks into her live show and intimate clips of her songwriting and recording process make this a must-see for super and casual fans alike.

Watch on Netflix.

Dolly Parton: ‘Here I Am’ (Netflix)

National treasure Dolly Parton, which is how I believe she should always be introduced because it’s the truth, released this documentary in 2019. Dolly Parton is a lot of things – well known physical traits aside. First and foremost, she’s a songwriter. She’s also a singer, an actor, an author, and dedicated humanitarian (her Imagination Library has donated millions of books to children and she’s a force behind the Moderna Covid vaccine having donated one million dollars to its efforts).

In this sweet and loving documentary, we hear from Dolly herself as well as some of her very famous friends like Kylie Minogue, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin, about what makes Dolly so very special. Here’s the secret – she’s never pretended to be anything more than what she is, the fourth of 11 children from the mountains of Tennessee, with a voice and talent and heart like none other.

Watch on Netflix.