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20 FEET FROM STARDOM Shines a spotlight on the untold true stories of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names.
Director: Morgan Neville
Share this film with others, give them the chance to learn about the fascinating stories of these talented vocalists.
Support these vocalists who are continuing to perform in concert tours and recording their own music.
Pick up a musical instrument or revive an artistic passion that you’ve neglected.
Get involved in your local music community. Teach music, learn music, or simply share your musical interests with others and enjoy music in a shared environment.
Longtime A&M Records President Gil Friesen worked on the film until his dying day in 2012. It went on to win the Oscar in 2014.
“He was making a film from his hospital room while dying of leukemia,” said Friesen’s longtime friend and former employee, Jim Guerinot. In fact, the film came together in part because of Friesen’s illness.
Los Angeles Times has the full story.
After 20 FEET FROM STARDOM won the Oscar for Best Documentary, Darlene Love stepped up to the mic and belted out the gospel hymn, “His Eye is on the Sparrow.”
Watch it on New York Magazine’s Vulture.
Read the Rolling Stone article.
“Despite their second-class status—at least as determined by the business and societal expectations—a good backup singer has skills that a solo artist typically does not. They have to put their egos aside, instantly meshing their identities with the other background performers on the line. Remaining pliable is crucial.”
Read more on the New York Times.
Listen to our playlist with music from the film on Spotify.
“There are different ways to be heard. Sometimes I wish I was I there in the era of radio, where it doesn’t matter what I looked like. The people would just hear the sound. It was a tenderer time.”
Read the full interview here.
While the film showcases an oft-ignored part of the music industry, it still minimizing issues of race and gender, reports The Atlantic.
“It’s supposed to be giving credit to the barely credited, but it plays more like an homage to the celebrities, a classically American story of successful individualism, full of rhetoric that enables easy exploitation.”
Merry Clayton and Tata Vega took center stage at an intimate soiree celebrating the success of Morgan Neville’s Oscar-nominated documentary, 20 FEET FROM STARDOM.
Watch their two amazing performances here.
Read an insightful interview with Lisa Fischer and watch a clip of Lisa and Tina Turner performing “I know it’s only rock and roll.”
"SHEER PERFECTION! Just watch Morgan Neville’s exhilarating documentary and try not to stand up and cheer."
Rolling Stone
"A GIFT! This generous, fascinating documentary seeks to rewrite the history of pop music..."
The New York Times
"INFECTIOUS AND IRRESISTIBLE. Their voices are powerful enough to tear you apart and put you back together again, and their stories will do the same."
Los Angeles Times
