Best movies like Ray

The extraordinary life story of Ray Charles.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Ray Starring Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Harry Lennix, and more. If you liked Ray then you may also like: 24 Hour Party People, Walk the Line, What's Love Got to Do with It, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Stoned and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

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24 Hour Party People

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.

Walk the Line

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

What's Love Got to Do with It

Singer Tina Turner rises to stardom while mustering the courage to break free from her abusive husband Ike.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love

In the mid-80s, three women (each with an attorney) arrive at the office of New York entertainment manager, Morris Levy. One is an L.A. singer, formerly of the Platters; one is a petty thief from Philly; one teaches school in a small Georgia town. Each claims to be the widow of long-dead doo-wop singer-songwriter Frankie Lyman, and each wants years of royalties due to his estate, money Levy has never shared. During an ensuing civil trial, flashbacks tell the story of each one's life with Lyman, a boyish, high-pitched, dynamic performer, lost to heroin. Slowly, the three wives establish their own bond.

Stoned

A chronicle of the sordid life and suspicious death of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones, who was found in the bottom of his swimming pool weeks after being let go from the band.

Nina

The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.

Not Fade Away

Set in suburban New Jersey in the 1960s, a group of friends form a rock band and try to make it big.

'Round Midnight

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.

Jersey Boys

A musical biopic of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, it gets to the heart of the relationships at the centre of the group, with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto.

Beyond the Sea

Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his life.

6.8 / 10 1988 Drama Music
suggested by: NeonNinja

Bird

Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

Born to Be Blue

Jazz legend Chet Baker finds love and redemption when he stars in a movie about his own troubled life to mount a comeback.

The Buddy Holly Story

A chronicle of the rise and brief career of rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly, who aspires to play music the way he wants it to sound. Holly and his band, the Crickets, are first invited to record in Nashville, where they encounter creative differences with the producing staff. Later they play a major booking at the Apollo Theater, scheduled there under the mistaken assumption that they're a black band. Holly's career eventually goes solo -- until the tragic day the music dies.

Coal Miner's Daughter

Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.

Cold War

A man and a woman meet in the ruins of post-war Poland. With vastly different backgrounds and temperaments, they are fatally mismatched and yet drawn to each other.

Glitter

A young woman is catapulted into pop stardom, with her already-famous DJ boyfriend calling the shots.

5.5 / 10 2008 Music Drama Romance
suggested by: user661pl8p09zq

Crazy

Crazy is the story of a legendary guitar player who emerged from Nashville in the 1950s. Blessed with incomparable, natural talent, Hank Garland quickly established his reputation as the finest sessions player in Nashville.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.

Crazy Heart

When reporter Jean Craddock interviews Bad Blake—an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend—they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son.

The Doors

The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.

Dreamgirls

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

Elvis

This biopic traces Elvis Presley’s life from his impoverished childhood to his meteoric rise to stardom to his triumphant conquering of Las Vegas.

The Five Heartbeats

In the early 1960s, a quintet of hopeful, young African-American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improves, turns pro, and rises to become a top flight music sensation. Along the way, however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry.

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

A glimpse at the life of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris through his successful song-writing years in the 1960s to his death in 1991 at the age of 62.

Georgia

Sadie looks up to her older sister Georgia, a successful folk singer who's happily married with children, but can't break out of the bar-band circuit and hit the big time she desperately covets. It's in part due to her attraction to drugs and booze, and also to her own unwise choice in men. Finally, though, Sadie's Achilles heel is a rough, unlovely voice very different than her sister's crowd-pleasing singing.

6.8 / 10 2014 Drama Music
suggested by: user777343dpkqt

Get on Up

A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.

A Star Is Born

Drunken, has-been rock star John Norman Howard falls in love with unknown singer, Esther Hoffman, after seeing her perform at a club. He lets her sing a few songs at one of his shows and she becomes the talk of the music industry. Esther's star begins to rise, while John's continues to fall. She tries desperately to get John to sober up and focus on his music, but it may be too late to save him.

Lady Sings the Blues

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Her late childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages and drug addiction are featured.

Elvis

The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody

The joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time. Tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday spent much of her career being adored by fans. In the 1940s, the government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial ballad, "Strange Fruit."

Low Down

The daughter of jazz pianist Joe Albany witnesses her beloved father's struggle -- and failure -- to kick his heroin habit.

La Bamba

Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens becomes an overnight rock 'n' roll success in 1958, thanks to a love ballad called "Donna" that he wrote for his girlfriend. But as his star rises, Valens has conflicts with his jealous brother, Bob, and becomes haunted by a recurring nightmare of a plane crash just as he begins his first national tour alongside Buddy Holly.

Leadbelly

The life of Blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, nicknamed Leadbelly is recounted. Covering the good times and bad from his 20s to 40s. Much of that time was spent on chain gangs in the south. Even in prison he became well known for the songs he had composed and sung during and before the time he spent there.

Bessie

The story of legendary blues performer, Bessie Smith, who rose to fame during the 1920s and '30s.

Sparkle

Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.

Respect

The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.

Cadillac Records

The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.

7.7 / 10 1997 Drama Music History
suggested by: user4274ttdmr6f

Selena

In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.

Shine a Light

Martin Scorsese and the Rolling Stones unite in "Shine A Light," a look at The Rolling Stones." Scorsese filmed the Stones over a two-day period at the intimate Beacon Theater in New York City in fall 2006. Cinematographers capture the raw energy of the legendary band.

Sid and Nancy

January 1978. After their success in England, the punk rock band Sex Pistols venture out on their tour of the southern United States. Temperamental bassist Sid Vicious is forced by his band mates to travel without his troubled girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, who will meet him in New York. When the band breaks up and Sid begins his solo career in a hostile city, the turbulent couple definitely falls into the depths of drug addiction.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

A biography of Ian Dury, who was stricken with polio at a young age and defied expectations by becoming one of the founders of the punk-rock scene in Britain in the 1970s.

Spinning Gold

A biopic of 1970s record producer Neil Bogart, co-founder of Casablanca Records.

Elvis on Tour

This documentary captures Elvis Presley on his 1972 American tour and includes rehearsals, interviews, archival television appearances and backstage moments. With Elvis at his most flamboyant, the film features well-known hits and cover songs showcasing his country, gospel and rhythm-and-blues influences.

Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story

The story of singer Rosemary Clooney's rise to fame, her marriage to Jose Ferrer, and her nervous breakdown.

What We Do Is Secret

The true-life story of Darby Crash, who became an L.A. punk icon with his band The Germs. Along with Lorna Doom, Pat Smear, and Don Bolles, Darby Crash completely transformed the L.A. punk scene, while sacrificing everyone he loved, his career, and ultimately his life.

The Big Beat

Young man just out of college tries to persuade his father, who owns a record company, to start signing up rock 'n' roll acts.

Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave

This is a lonely New Year's Eve for Hank Williams as he spends it en route to a huge New Years Day concert in Ohio. Hank Williams died that night on the road. A fictional biography is shown in flashback.

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