# Behind the Music (1997)

> A VH1 docuseries that revisits the careers, rises and falls of famous musicians through their own candid accounts.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/884

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 230
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary, music
- Created by: Gay Rosenthal
- Network: VH1
- Cast: Jim Forbes, Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Osbourne, Aimee Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, John Frusciante
- TMDB rating: 7.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159156/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: candid, nostalgic, frank, shocking

## Synopsis

Behind the Music (1997-2014) is a British and American music documentary series created by Gay Rosenthal for VH1. Each hour-long episode follows a single pop or rock act through the arc of its career, from early struggles and breakthrough hits to the excess, conflict and fallout that followed. Narrator Jim Forbes guides viewers through the story while artists and their intimates speak directly to the camera, including Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, John Frusciante, Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti. The engine of each installment is the question of how talent and fame collided with drugs, money and volatile relationships, assembled from archival concert footage, old interviews and new testimony. Shaped as a long-running episodic docuseries rather than a single story, it offers a frank, sometimes shocking look at the personal lives behind famous songs. Fans of VH1 music retrospectives such as Storytellers and the rock-doc tradition of Heavy: The Story of Metal will find resonance in its candid, nostalgic register and its unvarnished view of stardom.

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