Everlast has had a wild ride as a musician. He's been down with Ice-T; fronted a hardcore, fist-waving, Irish rap trio; been under house arrest; survived a heart attack; and has conquered the fickle worlds of hip-hop and alternative radio. And all by the age of 29.

Most folks associate Everlast with his four-year-plus tenure as the front man for House of Pain, the rap trio formed in 1992 and rounded out by DJ Lethal and Danny Boy. Yet while House of Pain made Everlast something of a household name, many people forgot that he began his musical career as a solo artist.

Ask Everlast who his musical heroes are and he'll reply, without missing a beat, "Neil Young's like one of my heroes, man. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, lump them in with Run-DMC and Public Enemy and you've pretty much got my top five."

Lumping Neil Young in with PE may seem odd coming from the mouth of a rapper, but then Everlast isn't your average, everyday MC. From his humble beginnings as a member of the Rhyme Syndicate to House of Pain, to Whitey Ford, Everlast has done what all good artists do over time: reinvent themselves (think David Bowie). Putting the past musical endeavors of Everlast into perspective with his current musical output, it's easy to agree with the closing line from his 1990 jam "Syndicate Soldier," in which he boldly remarked, "?I grow in wisdom as I get older?"

Everlast (born Erik Schrody) first emerged on the rap scene back in 1989 as a member of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate. Ice-T subsequently executive produced Everlast's debut solo album, Forever Everlasting, which came out on Warner Bros. Records. The album sported a sepia-toned image of Everlast sitting in the corner of a boxing ring wearing Everlast boxing shoes and gloves, ready to take on the world. It would mark the first of his many incarnations.

The album was pretty standard fare for its time, stacked with mid- to up-tempo beats, recognizable samples and loops (James Brown, The Knack, etc.), popular sonic styles (tinges of house, bits of rock), and a rapid-fire barrage of braggadocio-laced rhymes with a few lyrics of consciousness thrown in for good measure. But Everlast wouldn't make his real mark on hip-hop for another two years.

In 1992 the dynamic rap trio House of Pain emerged. Everlast, DJ Lethal, and Danny Boy took the hip-hop world by storm with their over-the-top Irish bravado and a fist-waving anthem titled "Jump Around." The song reached out to the suburbs and still managed to rock the inner-city boulevards and eventually took the group's self-titled album into platinum status. The trio toured rigorously, partied hard, and lived the high life. They appeared in the hip-hop comedy Who's the Man, and Everlast even turned in a gritty performance in the 1993 thriller Judgment Night. But the fame, the fortune, and the good times would soon subside. HoP delivered two follow-up albums ? 1994's Same As It Ever Was and 1996's Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again. Despite containing some solid material, neither of the records lived up to the success of their eponymous debut. After the release of Truth Crushed to Earth, the group threw in the towel. Yet the title of House of Pain's final album would prove to be ironically prophetic for Everlast.

By the end of 1996 Everlast had put House of Pain behind him and once again began concentrating on a solo career. By February of 1998 he was putting the finishing touches on his second solo album, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, when he suffered a massive heart attack, the direct result of a congenital heart defect and years of hardcore excess. Schrody, who truly did rise again, underwent a heart valve replacement and then jumped right back into the music. The experience, however, was something of a wake-up call and seems to permeate the music of Whitey Ford, especially tracks like "Death Comes Callin'" and "Painkillers."

With its black and white album art featuring pictures of Everlast wearing old jeans and a rumpled cowboy hat and the quasi folk-blues tinge of his radio hit "What It's Like," it was easy to assume that Everlast had given up his hip-hop roots. But Whitey Ford Sings the Blues was really a gritty, urban blues escapade chock full of solid, hard-hitting rap tracks that'll put all non-believers in check. Furthermore, cameos from such highly regarded hip-hop luminaries as Guru, Sadat X, Prince Paul, and Casual, not to mention production from longstanding hip-hop beat manipulators The Stimulated Dummies show that Everlast still has clout in the rap arena. Though it was slow to come out of the gates after its September 1998 release, the disc proved to have staying power: It steadily climbed into Billboard's top 10 several months later.

Further proof of his emerging popularity came in April and May of 1999, when Everlast was asked to join Lenny Kravitz and the Black Crowes for a nationwide tour of the U.S. And in July he'll appear at Woodstock '99, alongside such artists as Aerosmith, Sheryl Crow, DMX, Fatboy Slim, Ice Cube, Jewel, Kid Rock, Metallica, Alanis Morissette, the Offspring, Sugar Ray, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among others ? including one of his heroes, Willie Nelson.

Everlast seems to have a healthy grasp on his fortunes thus far. When asked how his outlook has changed over the course of his career, he replied, "My first record was like not knowing what the f--k I was doing. Then House of Pain was like my angst record, do some wild, shave-my-head s--t and see what happens. To me it's art now." And that's what it's like with Everlast, at least for now.