Varone was born on Long Island, New York, to parents Phil and Angela Varone, both of Italian descent. His family relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1980. Phil received his first drum kit as a Christmas gift as a young child. He began playing percussion in grade school at the age of 7 and continued into the first years of junior high. Self-taught, Phil credits his skills to listening to his favorite bands and drummers.

Varone began playing in various local bands while still in high school in Fort Lauderdale. In 1988, he joined together with some of his friends and formed Saigon Kick. The band signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records after two years. They earned a Gold Record for the album, The Lizard as well as a Billboard top 10 single for the song, “Love is On the Way”. In 1996, Saigon Kick disbanded and Varone stayed busy producing and doing studio work for a variety of artists.

In 2000, Varone joined multi-platinum recording artists Skid Row. Together they toured the world with Kiss, Poison, Def Leppard and Tesla; along the way, they recorded a new record, Thickskin. Additionally, the band produced Under the Skin: The Making of Thickskin, which was internationally distributed on DVD.

In 2003, Varone played drums for Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe on his solo tour.

When Varone left the music business in 2004 he decided to pursue a career in acting and stand up comedy. Varone appeared as a celebrity customer in an episode of Miami Ink, in which he got a tattoo of his son’s name. He also appeared in episodes of the Showtime series Californication, and the CBS series Numbers. Varone appeared the E! program Inside Celebrity Rehabs, the NBC game show Identity, in which he was correctly matched to his identity as a rock and roll drummer, and on an episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories on the BIO Channel. He also appeared in an Asian Nokia TV commercial.

In April 2009, Varone participated in Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, a VH1 spinoff of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew that features celebrities being rehabilitated for sex addiction. In the first episode, Varone revealed that his sex addiction worsened after his mother died from a cerebral aneurysm in 1998. Another pivotal moment occurred when his maternal grandmother Josephine died during the taping of the show. Varone also spoke about this sex addiction in episodes of Oprah, The Tyra Banks Show and the Today Show.

In July 2011 Vivid Entertainment released Phil Varone’s Secret Sex Stash video as part of their celebrity sex tape series. He has gone on to produce and direct a series for Vivid Entertainment called 100% Real Swingers. Varone has a second series of reality porn videos called Groupies: The Music From Behind, a takeoff on VH1’s Behind the Music series.

In April 2013 Un-Philtered: Real Life On and Off the Rock’n’Roll Tour Bus, a tell-all memoir of his days on the road, was published by Riverdale Avenue Books.

Varone joined Jake E. Lee’s band Red Dragon Cartel for the recording of their sophomore album Patina. The album will be released in November 2018.