Billboard's The 100 Best Acting Performances by Musicians in Movies

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"We wanted to take a look back at 100 of our all-time favorite musician appearances in feature films. They range from Oscar-winning starring turns in prestige classics to split-second cameos in cult favorites, from artists who have come to be as synonymous with film as with music to artists whose IMDB pages might just be a couple entries long. We only had three hard rules for eligibility:

1. The artist had to be well-known for music before they were well-known for film acting. (Apologies to Jamie Foxx, Lindsey Lohan and — most painfully — Jennifer Lopez.)

2. The artist couldn’t be starring as themselves in the performance, even in a somewhat fictionalized rendering. (Further regrets to Alice Cooper, The Spice Girls, and The Beatles.)

3. Only one performance per musician-actor.

Besides those, our list encompasses nearly a century of hitmakers-gone-Hollywood history, from the very beginning of the sound era all the way up to this year — and yes, Gaga made our list, though you’ll have to read on to see just where she ranked. Come dive in to the deep end with us."

Note: Dreamgirls appears on the list twice at #8 for Jennifer Hudson and #35 for Beyoncé.

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  1. 1 new

    Moonstruck

    1987, in 10 top lists Check
  2. 2 new

    The Way We Were

    1973, in 6 top lists Check
  3. 3 new

    Boyz n the Hood

    1991, in 9 top lists Check
  4. 4 new

    A Star Is Born

    2018, in 6 top lists
    Check
  5. 5 new

    The Wizard of Oz

    1939, in 38 top lists Check
  6. 6 new

    A League of Their Own

    1992, in 5 top lists Check
  7. 7 new

    Purple Rain

    1984, in 3 top lists Check
  8. 8 new

    Dreamgirls

    2006, in 2 top lists Check
  9. 9 new

    Nine to Five

    1980 — a.k.a. 9 to 5, in 2 top lists Check
  10. 10 new

    The Social Network

    2010, in 13 top lists Check
  11. 11 new

    Juice

    1992, in 1 top list Check
  12. 12 new

    Boogie Nights

    1997, in 12 top lists Check
  13. 13 new

    Chicago

    2002, in 7 top lists Check
  14. 14 new

    Dancer in the Dark

    2000, in 9 top lists Check
  15. 15 new

    From Here to Eternity

    1953, in 13 top lists Check
  16. 16 new

    8 Mile

    2002, in 3 top lists Check
  17. 17 new

    Ali

    2001, in 0 top lists Check
  18. 18 new

    The Man Who Fell to Earth

    1976, in 8 top lists Check
  19. 19 new

    Grease

    1978, in 12 top lists Check
  20. 20 new

    New Jack City

    1991, in 3 top lists Check
  21. 21 new

    Pillow Talk

    1959, in 6 top lists Check
  22. 22 new

    Mudbound

    2017, in 2 top lists
    Check
  23. 23 new

    The Rose

    1979, in 1 top list Check
  24. 24 new

    Moonlight

    2016, in 13 top lists Check
  25. 25 new

    Friday Night Lights

    2004, in 0 top lists Check
  26. 26 new

    Lady Sings the Blues

    1972, in 0 top lists Check
  27. 27 new

    The Bodyguard

    1992, in 2 top lists Check
  28. 28 new

    The People vs. Larry Flynt

    1996, in 2 top lists Check
  29. 29 new

    Fight Club

    1999, in 19 top lists Check
  30. 30 new

    Precious

    2009, in 4 top lists Check
  31. 31 new

    A Star Is Born

    1976, in 2 top lists Check
  32. 32 new

    Carmen Jones

    1954, in 7 top lists Check
  33. 33 new

    Poetic Justice

    1993, in 1 top list Check
  34. 34 new

    Rio Bravo

    1959, in 19 top lists Check
  35. 35 new

    Bye Bye Birdie

    1963, in 0 top lists Check
  36. 36 new

    The Wiz

    1978, in 0 top lists Check
  37. 37 new

    Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

    1993, in 0 top lists Check
  38. 38 new

    Oh, God!

    1977, in 1 top list Check
  39. 39 new

    Spring Breakers

    2012, in 5 top lists Check
  40. 40 new

    Going My Way

    1944, in 6 top lists Check
  41. 41 new

    Crossover Dreams

    1985, in 0 top lists Check
  42. 42 new

    The Big Lebowski

    1998, in 26 top lists Check
  43. 43 new

    Cabin in the Sky

    1943, in 3 top lists Check
  44. 44 new

    Hustle & Flow

    2005, in 0 top lists Check
  45. 45 new

    Jailhouse Rock

    1957, in 4 top lists Check
  46. 46 new

    Saved!

    2004, in 0 top lists Check
  47. 47 new

    Carnal Knowledge

    1971, in 3 top lists Check
  48. 48 new

    Monster's Ball

    2001, in 0 top lists Check
  49. 49 new

    Panic Room

    2002, in 2 top lists Check
  50. 50 new

    The Love Parade

    1929, in 5 top lists Check
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Last updated on Jan 8, 2024; source