After a long tour capped off by a performance before an adoring crowd, country-and-western singing idol Billie Blue informs his wife May and manager Carlton Jacobs that he is too exhausted to attend the massive party in his honor. May stalks off in a petulant rage with Carl, but Billie’s best friend Al and his publicist, Reba Stone, take him to a bar for a quiet celebration. There, however, Billie continues his recent predilection for drinking too much, and when tabloid reporter Harvey Trip photographs him without prior permission, Billie punches him. Trip vows to print the picture with an article about Billie’s drinking, after which Billie demands that Al supply him with tranquilizers. Reba later visits Trip and his publisher, Mr. Oliver, to plead that they temper their article by stating that Billie has been under extreme pressure, but Trip is eager to tarnish Billie’s reputation as a simple country boy and instead demands exclusive access to him in exchange for allowing Reba to review everything he writes. With no options, Billie agrees to the deal, then takes his young daughter Cathy to the park. There, she asks him why he and May are constantly fighting, and he breaks down in tears. He immediately leaves for another grueling tour, during which he habitually disappoints his fans by appearing drunk and ruining his performances. One night, a drunken Billie and Al steal a piglet from a local farm and release it during the post-concert party inside their hotel room, causing an uproar. The hotel manager complains but they get him drunk, and after a long night of drinking, Billie enters his room to discover May with Carl. Billie attacks his manager and the two tussle until May, attempting to break up the fight, smashes a bottle over Carl’s head. As Carl sinks to the ground, dead, Al, Reba and Trip run in, and May screams out that Billie is a murderer. Trip writes the story of Carl’s death, for which Billie is sentenced to three years at hard labor, but afterward proclaims to Oliver that he believes Billie is covering for May. When Trip refuses to continue covering the story, Oliver fires him. While May flees town after agreeing to leave Cathy with Billie’s parents in exchange for unlimited access to his money, Al and Reba visit Billie in jail and sob over his fate. At the labor camp, Billie is chained to Justin, a hot-headed criminal who has served ten years of a twenty-year sentence and yearns to escape to see his girl friend. One day, a preacher named Bob arrives at the camp and announces to the men that he is offering no-cost life insurance: God’s plan for their life. Justin taunts the preacher, who disregards the danger to himself by approaching Justin and handing him a Bible, calling it a tool for his spiritual freedom. Justin attacks, but Billie subdues him and Bob restrains the guard from disciplining him. That night, Billie plays the guitar and sings, partly to ease the prisoners’ boredom and partly to mask the sounds of Justin, who is sawing at his chains with a shiv. When Justin finally succeeds in breaking the chain, Billie warns him not to leave but Justin bids him a warm goodbye. Minutes after Justin climbs through the window, however, Billie cringes in his bunk as shots are fired outside. At Justin’s funeral, Bob reads from the Bible about salvation, then comforts Billie, for whom he has arranged permission to attend. At Bob’s urging, Billie, confused and depressed, prays for guidance. Soon after, Al visits and informs Billie that he wants to manage a small band and have Billie join them once he is released on parole. Just then, Trip arrives, now a reporter on a legitimate newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky. He hopes to help Billie by writing the real story of the murder, but Billie, still in love with May, declines. Al and Billie bid Trip goodbye, impressed with teh reporter's attempt to redeem his prior life. Soon, Billie is released, and when Al picks him up at the jail, he immediately declares his intention to find May. Al is forced to admit that she is working at a brothel in Louisville, having spent all Billie’s money. At his parents’ home, he is welcomed tearfully by Cathy and Reba. That night, he sings a new song about Jesus, then walks with Reba, who confesses her love for him. He kisses her but informs her that he must find May before he can move on. Trip brings him to May’s brothel, where Billie urges her to reconcile, but she caustically rejects him. When he persists, she breaks down, screaming that she is no good and Cathy is better off without her, then chases him out of the room with a lamp. As he flees down the staircase, May falls to her death. Reba comes to the funeral to support Billie, but after the service he tells her he must be alone. Walking down the street, he hears a choir singing in a nearby church, and mounts the stairs. At the top, the sight of the lighted cross causes him to break down in tears.