They did movies too.
A list of live action movies that featured musicians and singers/rappers.
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- DirectorRichard LesterStarsJohn LennonPaul McCartneyGeorge HarrisonOver two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live TV performance.A comedy that was supposed to show us the typical day in the life of the Beatles. A Hard Day's Night was released during the height of Beatlemania and also featured a young extra who would themselves go on to become a major musician, Phil Collins.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDustin HoffmanRobin WilliamsJulia RobertsWhen Captain James Hook kidnaps his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy.What does Hook have in common with A Hard Day's Night? Phil Collins appears in both. Though unlike the Beatles' film, he had a credited role in this film.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRoger DaltreyAnn-MargretOliver ReedA psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute boy becomes a master pinball player and, subsequently, the figurehead of a cult.In addition to Townsend, Moon, Daltrey, and Entwistle, the film version of the Who's rock opera also included Tina Turner, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Arthur Brown, and actress and singer Ann-Margret. Of course being a musical it probably isn't that surprising Tommy would have that much musical talent involved.
- DirectorRichard LesterStarsJohn LennonPaul McCartneyGeorge HarrisonSir Ringo Starr finds himself the human sacrifice target of a cult, and his fellow members of The Beatles must try to protect him from it.A year after A Hard Days' Night John, Paul, George, and Ringo were back with Help!
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyMadonnaAl PacinoThe comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.Madonna appears as Breathless Mahoney. At the time of the movies release the pop star was in the middle of her Blond Ambition Tour and she worked the film into the tour.
- DirectorJim HensonStarsDavid BowieJennifer ConnellyToby FroudSixteen-year-old Sarah must solve a labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is taken by the Goblin King.Jim Henson had wanted a musician for the role of Jareth the Goblin King. Though a number of other well known muscians were considered for the role, Henson's children eventually convinced him that David Bowie was the right choice.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonMarty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.Music played a big part of this movie, what with Marty aspiring to be a rock star and the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in 1955. By now most of us know that the guy who told Marty and his band, the Pinheads, that their rendition of Huey Lewis and the News' Power of Love was too loud was, ironically, Huey Lewis himself. So he got paid both for preforming two songs for the soundtrack and for his brief cameo in the film.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonAfter visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.Red Hot Chili Peppers co-founder continues the musical cameos in the second installment of the trilogy as Needles, the guy who gets Old Marty fired in 2015.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydMary SteenburgenStranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.Flea returns as Needles for the final installment of the trilogy and it's shown he's responsible for how Marty would have turned out in 2015 if the timeline at the end of the first movie had remained the same. However, perhaps more memorable was the old west band made up of Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons, and Frank Beard. So the Old West band was actually the real band ZZ Top.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsMatthew ModineEric StoltzTate DonovanIn 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in the UK prepares for its 25th and final bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA.Tail gunner Staff Sgt. Clay Busby is a pretty good singer and piano player. Maybe that's because the role marks the film debut of Harry Connick, Jr.
- DirectorLarry PeerceStarsRick SpringfieldJanet EilberPatti HansenA famous rock star falls in love with a child psychologist who has ears only for the classics, and has never heard of him.Three years after Jessie's Girl came out Springfield starred as rock star James Roberts. Not much of a stretch for Springfield.
- DirectorRichard A. CollaAlan J. LeviStarsRichard HatchDirk BenedictLorne GreeneAfter the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Mankind, the last major fighter carrier leads a makeshift fugitive fleet on a desperate search for the legendary planet Earth.Technically a theatrical release of the series pilot released in Canada, Australia, Europe, and some Latin American nations months before the pilot aired on TV in the US. Both the theatrical release and the TV release included a young pilot named Zac played by Rick Springfield, who had released his first album six years before. Three years later Springfield's Jessie's Girl became a number one hit in the US and Australia.
- DirectorJames William GuercioStarsRobert BlakeBilly Green BushMitchell RyanAmbitious but diminutive motorcycle cop John Wintergreen patrols the Arizona highways, yearning for promotion to Homicide Detective, while investigating a murder tied to hippies.Produced and directed by James William Guercio, who at the time the film was released also happened to be the manager for the rock group Chicago. That probably explains why Chicago's Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Lee Loughnane, and Walter Parazaider appeared in the movie.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMadonnaJonathan PryceAntonio BanderasThe hit musical based on the life of Eva Perón (Evita Duarte), a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Domingo Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.Perhaps one of Madonna's best known film roles, if not her best known role. Madonna would win a Golden Globe for her performance in this movie.
- DirectorGore VerbinskiStarsJohnny DeppOrlando BloomKeira KnightleyCaptain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, find Jack Sparrow, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.Johnny Depp was partially inspired in his role of Jack Sparrow by The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards. So the third movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise Richards was introduced as Captain Teague, Sparrow's father.
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsJohnny DeppPenélope CruzIan McShaneJack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too.After appearing in the third movie of the franchise, Keith Richards returns for the fourth.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsJanet JacksonTupac ShakurRegina KingGrieving hairdresser Justice goes on a road trip from South Central L.A. to Oakland on a mail truck alongside her friend and an obnoxious postal worker.As she was already appearing on TV before releasing her debut album, it should be little surprise that Janet Jackson would do movies. Poetic Justice would actually mark her film debut. Rapper Tupac Shakur would also appear in this movie. Though unlike Jackson it would not be his first film.
- DirectorRobert D. WebbStarsRichard EganDebra PagetElvis PresleyAt the end of the Civil War, a Confederate team is ordered to rob a Union payroll train but the war ends leaving these men with their Union loot, until the Feds come looking for it.Love Me Tender marked the theatrical debut of Elvis Presley. It also marked the only time the King of Rock and Roll did not receive top billing in one of his movies.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsElvis PresleyMary Tyler MooreBarbara McNairAs an incognito nun tries to help a doctor clean up an inner-city ghetto, the pair grow closer with time.Change of Habit would mark the last non-documentary film Elvis would make in his film career.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsBing CrosbyDanny KayeRosemary ClooneyA successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.The perennial Christmas favorite understandably featured some noted musicians. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney all star in this hit. Irving Berlin's White Christmas took it's title from the song of the same name, which had appeared twelve years before in Berlin's Holiday Inn starring Crosby and Fred Astaire. This movie was loosely based on the earlier one and both Crosby and Astaire were offered the lead roles in it. Astaire turned down the role of Phil Davis, which eventually went to Danny Kaye.
- DirectorMark SandrichRobert AllenStarsBing CrosbyFred AstaireMarjorie ReynoldsAt an inn which is open only on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn would star Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. However, it would be one song from the film which would become a bigger hit movie for Crosby twelve years later.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloLee BowmanTwo sidewalk salesman enlist in the army in order to avoid jail, only to find that their drill instructor is the police officer who tried having them imprisoned.This Abbot and Costello vehicle just happens to feature LaVerne, Maxene, and Patty Andrews. The Andrews Sisters play themselves in the movie and preform one of their biggest hits, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Although most of us probably assume Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was released after the U.S. entered WWII, Buck Privates was released in January of '41. So the iconic WWII Andrews Sisters song was before the US entered the war.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsHarry JamesPatty AndrewsMaxene AndrewsA musical showcase for Harry James, the Andrews Sisters, Joe E. Lewis, and Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. James i drafted and joining him is the band's lead vocalist who doesn't believe that Army training is necessary.Another of a number of WWII films the Andrews Sisters made during the war years. This one also features Big Band leader Harry James in a credited and Helen Forrest in an uncredited role. Forrest, who at the time was a vocalist for James' band, became known as the "voice of the name bands" after having preformed with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and James.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsCleavon LittleGene WilderSlim PickensIn order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.In a cameo as Sheriff Bart is riding to Rock Ridge we see the legendary Count Basie and his Orchestra playing April in Paris.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsFrank SinatraDean MartinSammy Davis Jr.Danny Ocean gathers a group of his World War II compatriots to pull off the ultimate Las Vegas heist. Together the eleven friends plan to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night.A Rat Pack movie, the original Ocean's 11 certainly fits the list with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and cameos of Shirley MacLaine and Red Norvo.