In partnership with Warner Bros. UK
Cinema has always been the perfect stage for world’s greatest fictional musical divas to strut their stuff. As Alfred Moretti – the enigmatic ‘90s music genius at the heart of new movie Opus – takes his rightful place in film folklore, we celebrate the wildest pop and rock gods that Hollywood has ever given us.
Nigel Tufnel
Found in: This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
This man goes to eleven. The shaggy-haired lead guitarist for metal messiahs Spinal Tap, Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) is one of the greatest rock stars of our time. When he’s not grinding his axe on classics like ‘Big Bottom’ or ‘Sex Farm’, he’s wearing an exact replica of his innards, complaining about the miniature bread canapes backstage and dreaming of working in a haberdashery. Remember, it’s not your job to be as confused as Nigel.
Best musical moment: Tinkling the ivories for new ballad ‘Lick My Love Pump’.
Ally Campana
Found in: A Star Is Born (2018)
A waitress with dreams of stardom, Ally Campana (Lady Gaga) sees her world change overnight when country rock star Jackson Maine walks into the bar where she’s singing covers of Édith Piaf. Before she can say ‘Barbra Streisand’, she’s recording, touring and performing on Saturday Night Live. Even if the music industry tries to rebrand her as a pop princess with tunes like ‘Look What I Found’, she’s still a star in our eyes.
Best musical moment: Joining Jackson on stage for the spine-tingling duet of ‘Shallow’.
Dewey Cox
Found in: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
If Ray Charles, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash all raised a boy, it’d be Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly). The Alabama lad accidentally cuts his brother in half with a machete, discovers the blues and soon becomes a sensation. Later, he dives into the counterculture movement of the ‘60s – dropping LSD with The Beatles, ripping off Bob Dylan and going all out to create his Brian Wilson-like masterpiece, ‘Black Sheep’. What a legend.
Best musical moment: Performs ‘Walk Hard’ – and it sweeps America in 35 minutes!
Josie
Found in: Josie And The Pussycats (2001)
Put your cat ears on. In a world where DuJour is the hippest boy band and the record industry colludes with the US government to feed subliminal messages to adolescents through music, we have all-girl group Josie And The Pussycats. Fronting the band is lead vocalist, lyricist and guitarist Josie McCoy (Rachael Leigh Cook), whose songs soon sends them stratospheric. She might be inspired by the Archie Comic series but there’s nothing 2-D about our Josie.
Best musical moment: ‘Pretend to be Nice’ sees Josie and the girls storm the charts.
Otis Blake
Found in: Crazy Heart (2009)
He’s 57. He’s an alcoholic. And his name is Otis ‘Bad’ Blake (Jeff Bridges). No wonder we love this singer-songwriter and one-time country star. Inspired by the real-life singer Hank Thompson, he might be a screw-up, but he’s the best songwriter out there. Just check out ‘The Weary Kind’, the song he sells to popular artist Tommy Sweet. Lines like “pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try” come ripped from his very soul.
Best musical moment: In the wings, watching Tommy Sweet strum his opus, ‘The Weary Kind’.
Celeste
Found in: Vox Lux (2018)
With her silver hair and space-age mascara, she’s the archetypal modern-day diva, manufactured in the music industry to conjure up the slickest of sounds. A survivor of a school shooting, Celeste (Natalie Portman) channels her trauma into a stellar career, with tunes like ‘Wrapped Up’ and ‘Hologram (Smoke and Mirrors)’. The euphoric songs come from real-life Aussie songstress Sia, but you wouldn’t know it: Celeste feels like we’ve known her all our lives.
Best musical moment: The finale, as she gives is a medley of her hits, sparkly catsuit and all.
Deena Jones
Found in: Dreamgirls (2006)
A small-town girl with big city dreams, Deena Jones (Beyoncé) rises from back-up to lead singer of the Motown-esque group The Dreamettes. Loosely based on The Supremes, with Jones inspired by the legendary Diana Ross, she’s the perfect embodiment of that world-changing, epoch-making Detroit sound. Later heading up Deena Jones & The Dreams, as their soulful music sends them to superstardom, this sweetest of songbirds is even considered for a Cleopatra movie. All hail, your majesty!
Best musical moment: The Dreamgirls give us ‘We’re Your Dreamgirls’…totally dreamy!
Envy Adams
Found in: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
She broke Scott Pilgrim’s heart. And when she takes to the stage, wearing red platform heels and a black mini-dress, with her blonde hair in pigtails, Natalie V. ‘Envy’ Adams (Brie Larson) looks like she could break everyone’s hearts. The original drawings from the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel took inspiration from Emily Haines, lead singer and keyboardist of the Canadian band Metric, but Envy and her band The Clash At Demonhead feel like true originals. Reunion gig, please!
Best musical moment: On stage, Envy belts out ‘Black Sheep’. Oh yeah!
’Opus’ is in UK cinemas March 14