Once best known for his tenure in the rap unit House of Pain, Everlast successfully reinvented himself in 1998 with the best-selling Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, a largely acoustic, hip hop-flavored effort in the genre-crossing mold of Beck. Born Erik Schrody, Everlast first surfaced in Los Angeles as a member of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate Cartel, issuing his debut album Forever Everlasting in 1990. When the album failed to find an audience, he formed House of Pain with MC Danny Boy and DJ Lethal; carving out an image which drew heavily on Everlast and Danny Boy's shared Irish heritage, the trio managed to overcome the stereotypes facing white rappers and scored a massive hit with their 1992 single "Jump Around." Their self-titled debut LP also went platinum, but when follow-ups including 1994's Same as It Ever Was and 1996's Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again failed to repeat House of Pain's early success, the group disbanded. Everlast then returned to his solo career, but while recording Whitey Ford Sings the Blues he suffered a massive cardiac arrest, resulting in heart bypass surgery and an artificial valve implant; after recovering he completed the album, which appeared in the fall of 1998 to strong commerical notices.