Many comparisons between Almost Famous and Daisy Jones and the Six have been made and almost all of them are obvious. In 2000, when Cameron Crowe released an autobiographical film in which he recalled how he accompanied the greatest rock band of the 1970s – Led Zeppelin – to write an article for Rolling Stone. He nailed it and won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Daisy Jones was born from an image of the author of the book about the band Fleetwood Mac, which would be a contemporary of Stillwater (the band from the movie Almost Famous), with similar problems.

In addition to the romance between Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne trying to capture the energy of the relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, the character has a drug consumption similar to what is alleged to Stevie, openly chemically dependent, although borrowing the look, gesture and the voice of Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine. But the image of a free, addicted, and tormented singer is nothing new on TV or in the movies. One of the best films about the backstage of music and its effect on the life of a fragile person yielded a beautiful film, The Rose, which had an inspired Bette Midler in the lead role.

Nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Actress (Midler) – which he lost to Sally Field in Norma Rae – and Supporting Actor (Frederick Forrest) has a visceral and iconic performance by Bette. It was a project offered to Ken Russell (who preferred to direct Valentino, with Rudolf Nureyev), filmed in 1978 and released in 1979, less than 10 years after the death of Janis Joplin, whose story is obviously the inspiration for the film. So much so that The Rose was originally going to be called Pearl (Janis’ nickname and the title of her latest album), but the singer’s family managed to forbid it.

The film tells the story of a self-destructive rock star, Mary Rose Foster (Bette Midler) who struggles to deal with the pressures of her career, alcoholism, drug addiction, and the demands of her greedy manager, Rudge Campbell (Alan Bates). Exhausted, insecure, and poorly advised, Rose enters a tragic and sad spiral, which culminates in an emotional and definitive performance. Much like what we’re seeing in the Amazon Prime Video series, with a great performance by Riley Keough.

Although cliché, The Rose and Daisy Jones reflect how complex the universe of music is for women, especially for over 50 years. Until today, the story of Janis Joplin has not been officially portrayed and in Almost Famous, it is the groupie Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) who almost overdoses (the actress was nominated for an Oscar as a Supporting Actress).

There is a project still in the pre-production stage to remake The Rose with Cynthia Erivo in the title role. We wonder if it’s still coming out of paper?