Everlast started his rap/hip-hop career as a member of rapper Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate, releasing his debut album Forever Everlasting in 1990. It didn't enjoy much success on the charts, with a couple singles doing merely OK. Unsatisfied, he would form House of Pain with old high school friend Danny Boy and DJ Lethal, and their self-titled debut album House Of Pain, co-produced by Muggs of Cypress Hill fame, was released in 1992.

After a couple more House of Pain albums, each doing poorer than the last, he would once again venture out on his own and release Whitey Ford Sings The Blues in 1998, which received much critical acclaim. This album had some songs that stuck to his rap/hip-hop roots, but also saw him singing on some acoustic numbers and trying his hand at rock, soul, and metal. The year 2000 saw the release of his third solo album, Eat At Whitey's, and in 2004 he released his fourth, White Trash Beautiful.

Summer 2007 he was asked by Fox (Nancy Miller) to write the theme song for the show "Saving Grace", starring Holly Hunter. On being asked to write the theme: "It was great to get the call from Fox - not only to find out that Nancy Miller was a fan, but also to be asked to write a song for such a cool show. The timing couldn't be better; I'm back in the studio working on a new album. This project was a great way to kick that off."

Everlast converted to Islam in the late 1990s. For example, at the end of the song "Put Your Lights On," he sings "La ilaha illa Allah" ("there is no god except Allah"), which is the first part of the Islamic creed.