After an initial premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Taylor Swift’s highly-anticipated documentary “Miss Americana” is now streaming on Netflix.
The film shows an intimate and unpolished side of Swift we’ve never seen before.
But, “Miss Americana” is just the latest documentary to take us behind-the-scenes of pop star, life so after you’ve viewed it here are five other must-see backstage behind-the-scenes films we highly recommend you stream.
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Gaga: Five Foot Two
Lady Gaga takes us behind-the-scenes as she makes her fifth studio album, ‘Joanne’ and prepares for her electrifying Super Bowl halftime performance in this 2017 Netflix documentary. The doc peels back the curtain as the pop star copes with excruciating physical pain (due to fibromyalgia and the aftermath of her previously broken hip) as well as emotional pain after her breakup with fiancé Taylor Kinney. Early on Gaga declares “my threshold for bulls*t with men is…I don’t have one anymore.” We’re also introduced to her family and learn more about Joanne after whom her album is named. We also learn that while Gaga has many talents, driving might not be one of them as she nonchalantly crashes her car into super producer Mark Ronson’s BMW before one of their sessions causing the producer to jokingly exclaim, “if you have a problem with me, just tell it to my face not to my bumper.”
Beyoncé: Life is But a Dream
The HBO documentary was produced by Beyoncé, directed by Beyoncé, is about Beyoncé for Beyoncé fans. Premiering shortly after her epic 2013 Super Bowl halftime show performance, “Life is But a Dream” gives us glimpses into Beyoncé’s childhood, her anxieties about how to top her own success, her relationship with her father (which was fractured after she decided to let him go as her manager) as well as her pregnancy with first daughter, Blue Ivy. Beyoncé gets particularly personal while discussing a previous pregnancy that ended in miscarriage. While some critics called the documentary shallow, too carefully curated, or lacking insight into what it truly means to be Bey, it’s still a lot of fun and a must-watch for card carrying members of the Beyhive.
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Katy Perry: Part of Me
The bubbly and effervescent pop star invited audiences behind the scenes of her massively successful and technicolour California Dreams tour for this 2012 documentary. Featuring a mix of interviews, reality television-style behind-the-scenes footage, and cotton candy-coloured 3D concert scenes, “Part of Me” covers her strict religious upbringing, her rise to fame, shows us her impressive work ethic and equally impressive dedication to her devoted fans, the “Katy Kats.” The doc includes a particularly poignant moment when, after the sudden end of her high-profile marriage to Russell Brand, Perry breaks down backstage. But, ever the consummate professional, the show must go on and you can’t help but feel for her as the pop star is forced to go from sobbing to smiles in the blink of an eye as she is elevated on to the stage to perform for thousands of screaming fans.
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing
The 2006 documentary chronicles the dramatic fallout after Natalie Maines exclaimed on stage at a 2003 concert, that she was ashamed then US President, George W. Bush was from her home state of Texas. The Commander in Chief was on the brink of sending US troops into Iraq to rid the country of “weapons of mass destruction” and the war was a highly-divisive issue in the US and abroad. Maines made the bold declaration in London, England during a stop on the group’s Top of The World tour and the ladies quickly went from top of the world to bottom of the barrel. The backlash against the trio was as swift as it was severe. The women were labelled “traitors” and country music radio stations not only stopped playing their music, they staged elaborate public stunts where the Dixie Chicks entire catalogue was gleefully destroyed. In a pre-Twitter era, before “cancel culture” was a thing, the Dixie Chicks were, most definitely, cancelled. “Shut Up and Sing” shows what the group went through internally and publicly during the aftermath including Natalie Maines receiving a death threat. Rather than issue an apology for the comment, the Chicks doubled down, refusing to back down, losing millions of fans (and dollars) in the process. The trio simply wasn’t ready to make nice. Those weapons of mass destruction were famously never found but the Chicks did find a new, if smaller, fanbase, outside of country music.
Madonna: Truth or Dare
The gold standard of pop star behind-the-scenes docs, the OG, the pioneer, the template. The 1991 film rides along with Madonna, chronicling her controversial (and wildly successful) 1990 Blond Ambition blockbuster world tour. “Truth or Dare” was originally supposed to be a straight-up concert film but director Alex Keshishian quickly realized there was just as much, if not more, entertainment happening backstage as there was on stage. To give context to just what a major superstar Madonna was during this time period, she was just coming off her appearance in the movie “Dick Tracy” and she was making headlines after sponsor Pepsi dropped her following her controversial video for ‘Like a Prayer’ which featured religious imagery and burning crosses. The documentary scored a screening at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. The audience is a fly on the wall as Madonna romps around naked with her backup dancers, dates legendary Hollywood lothario Warren Beatty, reveals a crush on Antonio Banderas (who was still married to his first wife at the time) admits on-camera that ex-husband Sean Penn is the love of her life, and also simulates oral sex on a water bottle. It’s iconic, it’s of a time and it’s pure Madonna. Few stars today would show themselves sticking their finger down their throat and pretending to vomit after a fellow celebrity called their concert “neat” as Madonna did with Kevin Costner. Perhaps Warren Beatty said it best in “Truth or Dare” when he says, “Does anyone make a comment, when you’re doing this film, about the insanity of doing this in front of a camera?” People magazine declared that the Blond Ambition tour “changed the pop-culture landscape” and we’d argue that the “Truth or Dare” film had the same effect on pop culture documentaries.
