In 1962 Detroit, Michigan, young car salesman Curtis Taylor Jr. meets a black girl group known as "The Dreamettes", which consists of lead singer Effie White and backup singers Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson, at an R&B amateur talent show at the Detroit Theatre. Curtis presents himself as The Dreamettes' new manager and arranges for the girls to become backup singers for chitlin' circuit R&B star Jimmy "Thunder" Early.