Plot summary

The movie opens with a voiceover of Lonny (Russell Brand) introducing Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) at the Bourbon Room, a rock 'n' roll venue and nightclub on Sunset Boulevard ("Paradise City"). In 1987, Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) travels to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a famous singer, while bar-back Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) prepares for another night of work at The Bourbon Room ("Sister Christian/Just Like Paradise/Nothin' but A Good Time"). As Sherrie approaches The Bourbon, her suitcase is stolen, including her prized records. Seeing the incident, Drew tries to catch the robber, but fails. He comforts Sherrie and, upon learning of her situation, he gets her a job at the Bourbon Room as a waitress.The club's owner, Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin), and his right-hand man, Lonny Barnett (Rusell Brand), are trying to find a way to deal with unpaid taxes that threaten the club, wishing their love of rock 'n' roll could keep it alive. Drew and Sherrie go to a Tower Records store and confess their dreams of becoming famous ("Jukebox Hero/I Love Rock 'n' Roll"). In hopes of raising enough money to clear up their debt, Dennis and Lonny finally decide to book Stacee Jaxx, a famous rock star preparing for his final gig with his band Arsenal, to perform at the Bourbon, where he started. Upon hearing of Stacee's upcoming concert, Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the religiously conservative wife of Mayor Mike Whitmore (Cranston), organizes her church to protest in front of the Bourbon Room, planning to shut them down in an attempt to rid L.A. of its "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" image ("Hit Me With Your Best Shot"). However, Patricia's real motive is revenge, as she once was attracted to Stacee Jaxx.Drew and Sherrie's relationship progresses, and they start to fall in love ("Waiting for a Girl Like You"). Drew admitting, he has started writing a song for Sherrie. On the night of the show, Dennis learns that Arsenal's opening act has canceled its appearance and Sherrie convinces him to use Drew and his band, "Wolfgang Von Colt." Drew then confesses his feelings for Sherrie while Stacee's manager ("More Than Words/Heaven"), Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti), schedules an interview between Stacee and Constance Sack (Malin Akerman), a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, before the concert. She mentions the rumors that Stacee is difficult to work with and that he was actually kicked out of Arsenal, but Jaxx claims that his life is much more complicated than it appears to be ("Wanted Dead or Alive"). Constance alleges that Gill is keeping Stacee doped up with drugs, girls & million dollar deals & because of that the real artist within Stacee is dying.He seduces her, and they are close to having sex ("I Want to Know What Love Is") when one of his arrogant comments convinces her that it would be a mistake and causes her to leave. While Drew is waiting to go on stage, he mistakes Sherrie's apologies to Stacee for having broken his Scotch bottle as an admission that they had sex, causing him to perform in a rage that the audience loves ("I Wanna Rock"). He breaks up with her and leaves with Gill after he offers to make Drew famous. Stacee Jaxx later takes the stage in front of an ecstatic crowd ("Pour Some Sugar on Me"). Sherri thinks that fame changed Drew and she quits ("Harden My Heart"). She struggles to find a job while Drew learns, much to his chagrin, that he must change his rock star image into that of a boy band in order to get investors ("Here I Go Again"). Justice Charlier (Blige), the owner of a local strip club called "The Venus Club", takes Sherrie under her wing, allowing her to work in the club as a waitress ("Shadows of the Night/Harden My Heart").However, she is told that in order to gain respect and make more money, she must "get on the pole." Justice teaches her the essentials of being an exotic dancer while Drew is transformed into a supposed pop legend ("Any Way, You Want It"). Stacee learns from Constance's article that Gill had stolen the proceeds from the show at the Bourbon Room from Dennis, after giving Dennis the impression that Stacee was doing the gig for free. Stacee terminates his employment with him, as he and Dennis are close friends and "rock brothers."Gill then plans to have another concert at the Bourbon Room to introduce Drew's new band, "Z Guyeezz" to earn profit from them. Knowing that the Dennis will not trust him anymore, he lies that Stacee Jaxx will be the one who will have the concert. Dennis believed him and spread the news in order to attract rock fans.In a scene from the extended version, Stacce shows up at the Venus Club and offers Sherrie $10,000 for a lap dance ("Rock You Like A Hurricane"). While the dance starts off professionally, it quickly devolves into a lust filled tango; resulting in Sherrie and Stacce realizing that neither of them have feelings for each other.A depressed Drew visits the Hollywood sign, where he finds Sherrie, who reveals both that she didn't have sex with Stacee and that she is going back to Oklahoma. Sherrie and Drew lament the situation while Stacee realizes he has feelings for Constance ("Every Rose Has Its Thorn"). He calls The Rolling Stone in an attempt to find his "Cinderella," but the employee tells Stacee that she is covering Stacee Jaxx's show at The Bourbon Room and Stacee, unaware that he was supposed to perform, rushes to the venue. Drew has found all of Sherrie's stolen records at the Tower Records that they first visited together. He buys them back and drops them off for her at the strip club.That night, before Drew's boy band's first solo show at the Bourbon, Patricia and her supporters square off against Stacee's enthusiasts, led by Lonny ("We Built This City/We're Not Gonna Take It"). When Stacee arrives, he seems to remember Patricia and greets her as "Patty." Lonny also recognizes her from photo art inside one of Arsenal's old records, and exposes her as a former groupie of Arsenal, and a hypocrite, in front of everyone. Stacee enters the club and finds Constance and professes his love for her. He also has his security return the stolen money to Dennis, who uses it to pay the taxes and save the club.Drew's boy band starts the show ("Undercover Love") but the rocker crowd boos their pop/hip-hop, and Drew, spotting Sherrie in the audience, leaves the stage. The two reconcile and Drew also dismisses the greedy and sell-out Gill, proclaiming that rock 'n' roll will never die. Stacee's baboon then punches Gill as he opposes. Sherrie reunites Wolfgang Von Colt for the opening act, where Drew performs the song, he wrote for her ("Don't Stop Believing"). Stacee hears the song and seems to be moved by it.Eight months later, Stacee, who has rejoined Arsenal, performs the song with Drew and Sherrie, who is now part of Wolfgang Von Colt (now named simply, Von Colt), in an arena, in front of a crowd that includes Dennis, Lonny, Justice, a pregnant Constance, and Patricia, whose humiliation at exposure as a hypocrite has sent her back to her rock 'n' roll persona.