"House of Pain" was an American hip hop trio that rose to prominence in the early 1990s. The group consisted of rapper and producer Everlast, rapper Danny Boy O'Connor, and DJ Lethal.
Their debut album, House of Pain, subtitled Fine Malt Lyrics was released in 1992. The album featured the hit single "Jump Around", which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 5 on the Hot Rap Songs, No. 13 on Rhythmic Top 40, No. 1 on Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, and No. 17 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs. This breakthrough track was also certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Their second single is "Shamrocks and Shenanigans (Boom Shalock Lock Boom)." The song peaked at 65 on the Billboard Hot 100, 14 on the Dance Club Songs, 75 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and 74 on Radio Songs. The self-titled album, House of Pain peaked at 14 on the Billboard 200, 14 on the U.S. Billboard Top Current Albums, 16 on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, 14 on the U.S. Billboard Top Album Sales, and is certified platinum.
The group's second album, Same as It Ever Was, was released in 1994. It featured great singles like "Back from the Dead" and "I'm a Swing It." The album became a commercial success peaking at 12 equally on the Billboard 200, the U.S. Billboard Top Current Albums, the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and the U.S. Billboard Top Album Sales. It was also certified gold. AllMusic gave it four out five stars
The group is best known for their association with the late hip hop producer and rapper Tupac Shakur, who was featured on their song "California Love". House of Pain also collaborated with the Beastie Boys on the track "Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix)".
After the release of their album, "Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again," the group disbanded in 1996. According to reports, creative differences between Everlast and Danny Boy O'Connor was responsible for the breakup. Afterwards, the members went on to pursue their own careers individually.
Erik Schrody (Everlast) achieved multi-platinum success as a solo artist in 1998 with his album, "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues" (which included elements of rap and acoustic guitar), during which he developed a style that blended rap with acoustic guitar.
Diamant ((DJ Lethal) began working as the DJ for multi-platinum nu metal band Limp Bizkit. Aside from a significant number of other music projects that Daniel O'Connor (Danny Boy O'Connor) got involved in, he ventured into some freelance work designing cloths.
House of Pain later reunited for a 25th Anniversary Tour in 2017. The tour performances which had Everlast and Danny Boy O'Connor as the only members of the group in attendance took place in Washington, D.C., Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, and California.
Today, House of Pain is considered one of the most influential groups in hip hop. They are credited for helping to popularize certain subgenres of the genre, such as Hip Hop Soul. The group is also credited with helping to launch the careers of several other artists.
