#music-biography

#music-biography

Music documentaries have long offered more than just behind-the-scenes access. At their best, they serve as time capsules, preserving pivotal moments in culture while peeling back the layers of the artists who helped shape them. From intimate portraits of reinvention to deep dives into eras that altered the course of popular music, the genre continues to evolve alongside the stories it tells.

Music biographies often follow a non-fussy trajectory, rallying its base with nostalgic re-creations of big concert moments and a sturdy timeline that begins with one idol's birth and ending on a critical juncture in its subject's life or even death. Director and screenwriter Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, The Pale Blue Eye) scraps much of that and hones in on more risky terrain, the metaphysical crisis and near breaking point in the life of one of our greatest musical forces Bruce Springsteen, The Boss.

Bill Nighy is the agony uncle you never knew you needed as he answers readers' questions in his new show. It's a laconic delight, listening to his louche suggestions on topics from lipstick application to decluttering a record collection. Wisdom is being dispensed despite his self-deprecating protestations. Alexi Duggins Widely available, episodes weekly Limerick native Ruth Negga narrates this RTE podcast about a couple convicted of carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM) on their young daughter.