On the Friday, June 5, 2026, episode of The Excerpt podcast: On the Friday, June 5, 2026, episode of The Excerpt podcast: Music documentaries are a major part of the festival circuit, but this year at Tribeca, they’re stretching beyond the screen. Questlove’s new Earth, Wind & Fire documentary opened the festival, followed by a live performance from the legendary band and The Roots. Other music films and events center on Madonna, Peter Frampton, Katy Perry, Daft Punk, Alicia Keys and more. USA TODAY National Music Reporter Melissa Ruggieri joins The Excerpt to talk about why these projects are having a moment and what artists are revealing when they let cameras follow them beyond the stage.
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Dana Taylor:
Music documentaries are a major part of the festival circuit, but this year at Tribeca, they’re not just showing up on screen, they’re turning into full on events. The festival opened on June 3rd with Questlove’s new Earth, Wind & Fire documentary, followed by performance from the legendary band and The Roots. Tribeca closes with a new Alicia Keys film rooted in her New York story. And in between, there are world premieres and special events tied to Madonna, Sara Bareilles, Peter Frampton, and more. So, what makes a music film work beyond the name on the marquee and what are these artists revealing when they let cameras follow them beyond the stage?
Hello, and welcome to USA TODAY’s The Excerpt. I’m Dana Taylor. Today is Friday, June 5th, 2026. Here to walk through some of the biggest music films at this year’s Tribeca Fest is USA TODAY’s National Music Reporter Melissa Ruggieri. Can’t wait to jump into these with you. It’s so good to have you here, Melissa.
Melissa Ruggieri:
Thank you. Great to be here.
Dana Taylor:
Let’s start with the opening night movie, Amir Thompson, better known as Questlove, has his new Earth, Wind & Fire documentary called To Be Celestial vs. That’s The Weight of the World. What does Questlove seem to be trying to capture here beyond the major hits produced by this iconic band?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Well, Questlove approaches this as a fan and as a historian. He’s followed Earth, Wind & Fire since he was a kid, he’s talked about how much they’ve influenced him. But yet as we know from Questlove’s other documentaries, he really does dig deep into things.
So what he really wants people to know from this documentary is just the genius of Maurice White, the founder of the group, he died in 2016. But he also doesn’t shirk from showing that more mercurial side of Maurice. I mean, this was a guy who made it very clear that it was his band. And even in the early ’80s, he decided just gathered them for a meeting one day and said, “I’m just walking away from the band. You guys go do whatever you want,” leaving them all stunned, which they talk about in the documentary as well. So, he also talked about when he had a kid and he was having children out of wedlock. He told his longtime partner that he could do whatever he wanted because he was a star. So, Questlove really doesn’t gloss over that part of Maurice because that is all of Maurice that made Earth, and Wind, Fire what it was.
But I will tell you, we do learn the meaning of the 21st of September, which for years Maurice said didn’t have a specific meaning, but it does, and I’m not going to spoil it for you. And while the documentary did premiere at Tribeca, it is also going to be airing on HBO starting on June 7th.
Dana Taylor:
So Questlove, of course, he’s an Academy Award-winning documentarian. He won with Summer of Soul. He was also behind Sly Lives, and 50 years of SNL Music. How does this Earth, Wind & Fire film fit into the larger story he’s telling about music and legacy?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Well, there are many, many familiar names in there. We’ve got former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, and they all talk about the influence that Earth, Wind & Fire had on them and for Black music in the ’70s. Because, hey, no one had fused pop, R&B, jazz, a little bit of disco, until Earth Wind & Fire came along. So the sound that they created, and again, this goes back as a testament to Maurice White, was really something that was completely unique at the time.
And then you look at their live shows and what they did for that. The magic tricks that they were doing, the smoke, the pyro, not a lot of artists were doing that then, especially not the magic. There’s a great scene of Verdine playing the bass, levitating sideways. And I talked to him last week about the documentary and I said, “When you look at that, what do you think?” And he thinks, he said, “I wasn’t scared then, but I would think twice about it now.” And you can’t really blame the guy because yeah, that was a whole different time.
But in talking to Verdine and Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson this week, they all agreed that Maurice would’ve loved what Questlove did. And Philip said that none of them could have imagined that 50 years ago that they’d have a documentary and still be in the game and still performing at the level that they are, and that Maurice would’ve been proud to see the band’s legacy. So, I think all of that encapsulates to remind people what the band did for Black music.
Dana Taylor:
This premiere was followed by a performance from Earth, Wind & Fire and The Roots, which made this feel more than a screening. How much is Tribeca leaning into music films as live events this year?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Way more than in the past. I mean, this is the 25th anniversary of the Fest, and notably, it is now just called the Tribeca Fest. It used to be called the Tribeca Film Fest. So their head of music, Vincent Cassous told me that the goal is to do something special with these, because there are other festivals that focus on film, but they want to do things that people can’t get at those other festivals. And that might mean getting Earth Wind & Fire to Play with The Roots, and Peter Frampton to play after his documentary that will be premiering there. And then even having Madonna and Katy Perry to stick around after their respective screenings to chat.
And even beyond the music films, Tribeca has some big names just doing talks, most notably will be Bruce Springsteen. He’s receiving the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award, and he’s being given it by his pal, Bono. And then his other pal, Patti Smith, said, “Hey, I’d love to come play a couple of songs.” So the three of them are going to be in the same room at the same time during Tribeca as well.
So, they’re really just expanding beyond this idea of, the festival could only be a film festival and also that music can only just be either a documentary or a concert film. They want to branch out from that a little bit more and then actually get the artists involved. And as Vincent also said, the fact that it’s based in New York is really beneficial because it’s such a diverse place and there’s so many artists who either already live there or obviously are in the city all the time. So calling them up and saying like, “Hey, want to come do this?” But he also said he doesn’t have to call them so much anymore. He used to five years ago when they first started broaching the music territory a little bit, but he said now they call him, which is a great thing.
Dana Taylor:
I want to go to some of the bigger names that you mentioned. Madonna, she’s got the cinematic presentation tied to her upcoming album, Confessions II, that’s due out July 3rd. This isn’t a traditional documentary, but nothing about Madonna is traditional. This is obviously though one of the splashier moments at Tribeca. What can you tell me about the project?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Yeah, it’s funny how even now anything Madonna does is of extreme interest and people are still like, “Oh my God, Madonna’s releasing something.” And that’s a pretty good testament to her legacy. But she’s releasing Confessions II on July 3rd. It’s the sequel, kind of, to her 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. So, people are really excited about that, the music side of it.
But her Tribeca appearance will showcase a 10-minute visual work that’s built around the first six songs of the upcoming album. So, attendees will also get to hear those six songs before they are even put out as singles. She has already released the songs, I Feel So Free, and then Bring Your Love, with Sabrina Carpenter, and those will be among the six songs that will get that new visual element that people will get to see. So basically, I guess Madonna is still the queen.
Dana Taylor:
Peter Frampton’s film simply titled, Frampton, sounds deeply personal, especially given what he’s shared publicly about his health and continuing to perform. What makes his story especially compelling at this stage of his career, Melissa?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Well, I talked to him a few weeks ago and he had his beautiful service dog, Bigsby, by his side, that he does take with him everywhere he goes. And he was very open about the degenerative muscle disease that he’s been dealing with since 2015, but he also said he’s still playing pretty good. And he just released a great new album called Carry the Light. But the main purpose of the documentary is really to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Frampton Comes Alive, which pretty much changed the whole idea of a live album. If you lived through that period, I did not, but if you did, you know that it was the biggest thing ever. I mean, he was the Beatles in the mid ’70s. It launched him into superstardom. I mean, we see the pros and cons of that, of course, and we also get plenty of concert footage from back in the day when he had the long curls. And of course he developed that talk box sound that artists like Bon Jovi and lots of other people have you share, have used over the years.
But you also remember what it was that got Peter Frampton to where he was. He talks about there’s some historical information in there when he was in the band’s The Herd and then of course Humble Pie, but then it was when he went solo and then had this explosively important live album that just changed music. And to this day, that is the live album. If anybody’s talking about live albums, that is used as a reference point. And there are other artists, lots of artists in that as well that talk about how much that was an influence on them when they were kids, like Alice Cooper, and just seeing it and going, “Oh my gosh, wow, this is something that we really think that we can now do this. And when we move forward in our careers, we want to look back and see what Peter Frampton did.” And that’s really what the purpose of the documentary is.
Even though it does follow him around, he talks about how his playing has changed a little bit since he has been dealing with this health issue, but he looks great. He seems very happy. He’s very just happy to be able to still pick up a guitar, I think.
Dana Taylor:
And Katy Perry’s, The Lifetimes Tour, Live from Paris, is another one on this year’s music list. Concert films are now a major part of how pop stars extended tour beyond the arena. What can you tell us about Katy’s film and how she fits into that bigger trend?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Yeah, that’s really true, because if you think about Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and one that I saw last year, “Depeche Mode: M,” they had a really cool concert video from Mexico City that they integrated a lot of Mexican cultures into the film itself, and it does seem as if they’re becoming more common. But while I would say that nothing can compare to the actual live experience, these at least give fans who weren’t able to see their favorite artist for whatever reason, the opportunity to do that. And then also those maybe who love these artists so much who may have gone to one show or 50 shows, they get to relive it. So, there’s really no downside to releasing a concert video.
Now, Katy’s show in particular, that show was maligned out of the gates last year. And I have to say, I saw it in Philadelphia. I thought it was a lot of fun and the things that some people complained about, like her awkward choreography they said, or Katy being goofy, well, she is goofy, and she comes across as just a big sister to everybody. And she’s funny and she’s self-deprecating and she’s also changing costumes 1,000 times and there are huge set pieces, about, it has a futuristic bent to it. And so there’s pyro, there’s all the things that you are used to seeing in the big arena show now, and I think that’s going to play really well on screen. So, I’m really happy that they had 60 cameras around the arena in Paris where they filmed it and that’s going to capture every angle and you’re going to get to see lots of things that maybe you don’t see from your seat in the 300 level.
Dana Taylor:
Daft Punk’s Electroma is getting a 4K remaster and 20th anniversary screening at Tribeca. This is a very different kind of music film. For people who may only know Daft Punk through their music, what is Electroma, and why does this screening stand out?
Melissa Ruggieri:
So in 2006, the Daft Punk guys who are both French, and I’m not going to mangle their names, they wrote and directed this avant-garde science fiction film about two robots who go on a quest to become humans. I think it’s one of those, the less you ask, the more you’ll understand, kind of things. And it stands out, especially for longtime Daft Punk fans, because it’s been remastered in 4K, which for those who love film technology know that it’s the most amazing quality that you’re going to get on screen.
So, it’s also a special thing because one of the Daft Punk guys, the one whose name I can sort of pronounce, Thomas Bangalter, will be there and apparently he hasn’t made many visits to the US in, I don’t know, at least a decade I was told. So, the fact that one of the guys is going to be in the room during the screening, typically after the screening, they will do some type of quick Q&A with someone from Tribeca. That is really what people are excited about. And also the fact that they are going to get to see what… I don’t think a lot of people really knew about this film unless you were a hardcore Daft Punk fan back in the mid 2000s.
And the other weird thing about the movie too, not weird but different, is that none of their music is in it. There’s music from other artists in it like Todd Rundgren, but none of Daft Punk’s music is in it. So I think people are just going to be really curious to see what it looks like in this newly remastered format, and then just be able to see it for the first time if they never saw it back then.
Dana Taylor:
And finally, you covered a similar slate of music documentaries for us last year, Melissa. When you look at this year’s films, what does it tell you about where music films are headed? And are these still documentaries or have they stretched beyond that?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Well, I think the majority are legacy projects. And Vincent Cassous, the Head of Music again at Tribeca, said that he purposely picks a lot of them because he wants the younger audiences to understand why some of these artists are getting their flowers. And also, most documentaries are going to be better when they’re done about artists who have lived through 30, 40, 50 years of a career and had trials and tribulations. And so you get to really see the peaks and valleys and all of the cliche things, but it is really true of most artists that have lengthy careers, as opposed to some artists who might put out a documentary after their second album and they’re 21 years old. So, the legacy artists are always going to get priority I think at Tribeca.
But I also think that artists themselves are looking at other forms of media, whether it’s a documentary or a concert film, just as ways to stand out. And with the record industry being the way it is, that nobody actually buys music anymore, they do need to reach their audiences in different ways. And this is also yet another way for them to reach them.
You might not know the Electropop Duo Magdalena Bay, but after seeing their cinematic experience at Tribeca for their Imaginal Disk album, you might be prompted to go check out more of their music if you think that they’re really cool. Or for younger people, they might’ve heard about Peter Frampton or Earth Wind & Fire, but knowing where they came from and why they’re legends, is never a bad thing.
Dana Taylor:
It’s always great to talk music with you, Melissa. Thank you so much for being on The Excerpt.
Melissa Ruggieri:
Thank you.
Dana Taylor:
Melissa Ruggieri is the national music reporter for USA TODAY. Thanks to our senior producer, Kaely Monahan, for her production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to [email protected]. Thanks for listening. I’m Dana Taylor, I’ll be back Monday morning with another episode of USA TODAY’s The Excerpt.
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