Rockers Who Play Rockers
Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah play the widowed G.G. Sparrow and newly appointed choir director Vi Rose Hill in the 2012 film Joyful Noise.
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Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi plays a supposedly successful rock star named Jensen in the 2011 film New Year's Eve. Here he is singing a duet with Lea Michele, who plays Elise in the film.
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Steve Earle
Country musician Steve Earle plays New Orleans street busker Harley Watt in HBO's TV series Treme. Earle also played a recovering drug addict in some episodes of The Wire.
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Beyonce Knowles
Beyonce plays in Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records, based on the life of Leonard Chess and the founding of Chess Records.
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Jack White
Jack White plays Elvis Presley in the 2007 biopic parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, starring John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox.
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Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson
Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson play Deena Jones and Effie White in the 2006 film Dreamgirls, which tells a fictionalized version of the beginnings of Motown Records. Deena is based on Diana Ross, while Effie is based on an amalgam of soul singers including Supremes member Florence Ballard, Etta James and Aretha Franklin.
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Ludacris
Ludacris plays the successful rapper Skinny Black in the 2005 film Hustle & Flow.
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50 Cent
50 Cent plays Marcus in the semi-autobiographical 2005 film Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
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Seu Jorge
Brazilian musician Seu Jorge plays Pelé dos Santos, the safety expert who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese on the research vessel Belafonte in the 2004 comedy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
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Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx plays Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic Ray.
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Jack White
Jack White plays a Confederate deserter and musician named Georgia in the 2003 Civil War drama Cold Mountain.
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Eminem
Eminem plays Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith, Jr., a young white rapper from Detroit, in the semi-autobiographical 2002 film 8 Mile.
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Jack Black
Tenacious D's Jack Black plays the opportunistic would-be teacher Dewey Finn in the 2003 film School of Rock.
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Chris Thomas King
Blues guitarist Chris Thomas King plays Tommy Johnson in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
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Alice in Chains
Mike Starr, Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney of Alice in Chains perform as a bar band in Cameron Crowe's 1992 film Singles.
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Lou Reed
Lou Reed plays a Bob Dylan-like character named Auden in the 1983 music business satire Get Crazy.
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Paul Simon
Paul Simon plays a struggling folk-rock star named Jonah Levin in the 1980 film One Trick Pony.
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Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson plays country star Buck Bonham in the 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose.
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Paul Nicolas, Keith Moon and David Essex
English pop singer Paul Nicholas (Paul Dean), Who drummer Keith Moon and singer-songwriter David Essex play Johnny, J.D. and band leader Jim Maclaine, who comprise the Stray Cats, a fictional rock group, in the 1974 film Stardust.
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Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley starred as a number of different rockers during his acting career. Here he plays ex-convict Vince Everett in the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock.