The cardiomyopathies are a heterogeneous group of disorders primarily having myocardial dysfunction in common. Phenotypical classification relies on morphological and functional criteria. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has advanced into an imaging modality, which allows assessment of structure and function in addition to myocardial tissue characterization and evaluation of the myocardial iron content, inflammation and fibrosis. This review describes the status of CMR for evaluation of cardiomyopathies.