Rock Music Biopics Match-Up Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gary Busey

This is the straightforward story of the all too brief life of Charles Hardin Holley, a hugely influential and pioneering force in the early days of Rock & Roll. After a record company PR man mistakenly dropped the "e" from his last name, Holly let it stay that way.

The 1978 movie begins with his teenage days in Lubbock, Texas, as he develops his musical vision, hones his guitar style, and forms his band. It effectively depicts his strong self-belief as he successfully battles the music industry, winning the right to control his material, produce himself, and get the sound he wants.

It covers his marriage and the band's ups and downs. Since it's no secret that Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in 1959 at only 22 years of age, the abrupt ending of the film seems fitting. Busey does all his own singing and guitar playing in the movie, and received an Oscar nomination for his effort.

Answer: Jamie Foxx

Ray Charles' early loss of sight is well known, and eventually, he thoroughly embraced it physically and spiritually. The movie reenacts this dramatic development (when he was seven years old) and effectively shows how it impacted his early life and his career as one of the true geniuses in R&B music. Using a series of flashbacks, the film covers most aspects of his rise to stardom and growth as a song composer and producer. Jamie Foxx really nails this acting performance. He met Charles personally before filming, and got his approval for the project. Although he is a competent singer and a trained classical pianist, he skillfully lip-synchs the words to the songs, because all agreed they wanted Ray's voice on film. The movie also unflinchingly shows the dark side of his Charles' persona, which included lots of women and drugs.

Ray Charles had the ability to venture into any genre of music and stamp it with his unique, soulful style. A notable example is Charles' 1962 album "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music". This record was a big critical and commercial success, as it blended soul and country in a new way. The album features covers of standard country, pop and jazz songs. It received airplay across the radio spectrum, and introduced him to country, pop and other audiences which previously were missing his talent. The signature song is "I Can't Stop Loving You", one of four singles released from the album.

Answer: Dennis Quaid

This Jerry Lee Lewis biopic takes its title from one of his biggest hits. Another of early Rock & Roll's larger than life characters, Jerry Lee was flamboyant, egotistical, and played the piano with a flair never seen before. Quaid does a nice job capturing the combination of wildness, confidence, and devilish attitude of the man they called "killer". Lewis flouted conventional moral standards by marrying his thirteen year old cousin which, according to the movie, wasn't that big a deal in the rural south where he grew up.

However, it got him expelled from England in 1958 just after starting what promised to be a massively successful tour, and his career never fully recovered, leaving him embittered and resentful at what he considered a hypocritical society.

Although Quaid wanted to play and sing the music himself, Lewis nixed that idea, in keeping with his belief that he was too great to be imitated. Lewis was 81 years old and still alive at the beginning of 2017.

Answer: Val Kilmer

Director Oliver Stone elicits an amazing performance from Kilmer as Jim Morrison, the charismatic, psychedelic, incredibly gifted lead singer of the cutting edge, 1960's rock band. The band took its name from "The Doors of Perception", a book by Aldous Huxley detailing his experiment with the drug mescaline. Like many of Stones' films, the movie (from 1991), was controversial. Morrison's surviving band mates and his family were unhappy with the portrayal of Morrison and his ultimately self-destructive flaws.

The movie covers Morrison's college days at UCLA film school, how he met first Ray Manzarek then the other band members, and how they got involved in the vibrant LA music scene and its concurrent drug culture. Morrison was a mesmerizing stage performer with powerful ability to draw others under his influence and into his dark vision.

Interesting fact: Paula Abdul, of "American Idol" fame, advised Kilmer on his dance moves.

Answer: Tim McIntire

This is perhaps the most obscure question in the quiz, since neither Tim McIntire nor Alan Freed, the man he portrayed in the film, is that familiar to casual rock music fans. The movie lovingly details the early history of Rock & Roll through the story of the Disc Jockey most credited with inventing the term itself. Freed was a maverick. Operating out of a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio starting in 1953, he took chances promoting and playing music for his mainstream mostly youthful audience, specifically music by black artists, that other DJs wouldn't play.

He related to kids and reached them with a new form of music that made many parents and conservatives uncomfortable. The movie covers his life, including the "payola" scandal which brought him down. Floyd Mutrux directed the 1978 film. McIntire was an American character actor who died in 1986 of congestive heart failure, at just 42 years of age.

He also played country singer George Jones in "Stand By Your Man," a 1981 made for TV biopic about singer Tammy Wynette.

Answer: The Beatles

Ok, I know this one's probably a slam dunk, but how can you have a Rock & Roll movie quiz without this Beatles classic? While not a typical biopic, the film shows the boys on a series of adventures as they prepare for a television concert. Along the way they get to sing many songs, take care of Paul's wacky grandfather, and locate Ringo, who disappears right before the concert.

It could be titled "a day in the life of the greatest rock band of all time, early in their career, when it was all fun and new". "A Hard Day's Night" came out in the summer of 1964. Richard Lester directed the movie, as well as "Help (1965)," the Beatles' next major film.

Answer: Kevin Spacey

This somewhat different biographical movie, released in 2004, has Kevin Spacey's fingerprints all over it. He designed the concept, wrote the script, takes the starring roll, and does all his own singing and dancing. In fact, as the disclaimer at the end of the says, the movie isn't trying to be a strict re-telling of Darin's life.

It adds some events, changes others, and only alludes to Darin's early death at 37 from heart surgery. It does allows Spacey to create his own interpretation of the character.

The result is clearly a labor of love for Spacey, who can really sing. To get the film made, he had to convince Steve Blauner, Darin's manager, who controlled music rights and was very protective of the singer's legacy. According to an interview with Spacey, Darin's wife Sandra, a successful movie star in the 1960s, and their son Dodd both approved of the film.

Answer: Adrien Brody

This movie covers the significant portion of the adult life of Leonard Chess from the late 1940s through the mid 1960s. Another early visionary, he started a record company in Chicago which brought blues music out of the rural South into the big city and eventually into the mainstream as it developed into Rock & Roll.

This "new music" became the dominant force in the industry, thereby changing the face of popular music forever. Mos Def does an amusing turn as Chuck Berry, who was a key figure in the transition.

The other characters who came through the Chess studio are a who's who of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legends. They include Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, and Etta James, and they are the real stars of the show. Adrien Brody gives a brave performance as the white guy who takes on the enormous task of integrating a collection of super talented African American blues musicians into a skeptical industry not quite ready for the onslaught.

As is the case with so much of our culture, when the money starts rolling in, the power structure starts making accommodations. If you are a fan of Rock & Roll, this is part of the story you don't want to miss. Beyonce, who produced the movie, gives herself the role of Etta James, along with two dynamite numbers at the end of the film which do not disappoint.

It hit the big screen in 2008.

Answer: Gary Oldman

"Sid and Nancy" came out in 1986, just seven years after the tragic death of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, who became the preeminent couple on the punk music scene in the late 1970s. Perhaps this was too soon for such a harsh treatment of the sordid, torrid, drug addled relationship which enmeshed these two unfortunate individuals.

The movie starts with Sid facing charges for Nancy's death, then goes back and creates what happened leading up to that point. The action centers around the band called The Sex Pistols and how Nancy became involved with Sid, who was the bass player.

Although most other punk rockers, including Sex Pistols' lead singer Johnny Rotten, despised the movie, all agreed that Gary Goldman's portrayal of Vicious was amazing. Ironically, Oldman had no interest in Sid Vicious or punk rock, didn't want to make the movie, and didn't think he did a good job. Once he accepted it however, he did go all in.

He lived on fish and melon for weeks in order to lose weight and look emaciated. Chloe Webb co-stars as Nancy, and Courtney Love, who wanted that part, has a small role as Gretchen.

Answer: Lou Diamond Phillips

The movie came out in 1987 and was written and directed by Luis Valdez. Phillips handles the starring role decently, given that Valens was only 17 when he died in the same plane crash as Buddy Holly, on the way to a concert in Minnesota. That tragic event on February 3rd, 1959 has become known as "the day the music died", a line from Don McLean's nostalgic 1971 hit about that time.

The dramatic substance of the film comes from Valens' meteoric rise from a Chicano Los Angeles neighborhood, his rivalry with his jealous older brother, and his girlfriend Donna, who inspired the hit record bearing her name. "La Bamba" is also the name of Valens' other big hit record.

His reworked rock version of this traditional Mexican folk song came out in 1958 and rose to number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It's also the only foreign language song on Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 "The 500 greatest songs of all time" list. Additionally, Los Lobos' version on the movie soundtrack reached number one. Lou Diamond Phillips was born as James Diamond in 1962.

This was his breakthrough role, and he received a Golden Globe nomination for the part. He also received a Tony Award nomination for his 1996 Broadway debut starring in "The King and I."