Former Saigon Kick and Skid Row drummer Phil Varone has sold over a million albums – and he’s broke. Cameras followed Phil day and night for four years, documenting his self-destruction. The transformation of a passionate, hungry kid into a financially ruined drug addict is chronicled in eye-opening, behind the scenes footage that truly debunks the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll myth. With absolute honesty, Varone reveals the truth about what the music business did to him. Life on the road led to an existence of “blow, beer and tits.” In addition to Phil’s own riveting testimony, his ex-wife and the mother of his two children, Cathy, provides her own recollections of the constant struggle that was their marriage. This 90-minute DVD is much more than just a collection of interviews though. The groupies are given their fair share of screen time, flashing their boobs and even performing fellatio on Phil. Although embarrassed about it now, Phil’s $700 a week cocaine habit is in full view with the tattooed drummer snorting lines just like Tony Montana in Scarface. Although Phil appeared to be a rock star to the public, in reality, he sold his drum set just so he could pay rent. Varone’s cocaine use got so out of control, he suffered coronary spasms, eventually causing him to quit the music business completely. At age 37, Phil is starting life over and Waking Up Dead serves as closure to the era of excess that almost killed him.