Set in New York in the early 1980s, Billie Frank (Carey) was abandoned as a child by her mother and lived at an orphanage. Her dream of becoming a singer starts to come true when, years later, she is discovered by Julian Dice (Beesley), a charismatic deejay who soon becomes her partner, producer and lover.

The trip to superstardom is both exciting and unstable as she struggles through her personal and professional life.