Tramp met Vito Bratta and formed White Lion in 1983; the band became very successful in the mid-1980s to early '90s. White Lion released their debut album, Fight to Survive, in 1985. The band achieved success with their number 8 hit "Wait" and number 3 hit "When the Children Cry" from their second album, the triple-platinum selling Pride. The band enjoyed continued success with their third album, Big Game, which achieved gold status, and their fourth album, Mane Attraction, which they supported with a tour. White Lion disbanded in 1992; their first compilation album, The Best of White Lion, was released not long after.

After White Lion, Tramp went on to form the Hard rock band Freak of Nature. The follow-up was significantly darker and harder than White Lion. The band released three albums between 1993 and 1998: Freak of Nature, Gathering of Freaks, and Outcasts. The band shared stages with Helloween and Dio in Europe in 1993. Freak of Nature eventually disbanded in 1996.

Following Freak of Nature, Tramp began a solo career, releasing his debut album as a solo Artist in 1998 titled Capricorn. The album featured former Freak of Nature bandmates, Guitarist Kenny Korade and bass player Jerry Best. Former White Lion bass Guitarist James LoMenzo performed backing vocals on the album. The song "Better Off" was released as Tramp's debut solo single and features his first solo music video. The album also features the singles "Already Gone", "If I Live Tomorrow", and "Take a Little Time".

It would be five years before Tramp returned to the studio to record his follow-up album, Recovering the Wasted Years, during which time he would move to Australia, with the aim of raising his son away from the rigors of big city life and to plan his next career move. Recovering the Wasted Years was released in 2002 and featured the singles "Living a Lie" and "Endless Highway" both featuring live music videos.

In 2003, Tramp followed-up with his third album, More to Life Than This, which he once again produced himself but relied on producer/engineer Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica) to Engineer and mix the sessions in his very own Sweet Silence Studios. The album's title track, "More to Life Than This", and "Don't Want to Say Good Night" were both released as singles. A music video made in Australia was released for the song "Lay Down My Life for You". Also in 2003, Tramp released the double-disc live album Rock 'N' Roll Alive, which features Tramp performing live versions of songs from White Lion, Freak of Nature, and his solo albums.

Tramp also reformed White Lion with a new line-up under the name "Tramp's White Lion" (aka White Lion II) due to legal issues with former members. The band played and re-recorded White Lion songs touring and releasing a box set titled "The Bootleg Series" in 2004 and a double-live CD entitled Rocking the USA in 2005.

In 2006 Tramp's White Lion toured Europe in November and December with British band Crimes of Passion. In 2007 a White Lion compilation The Definitive Rock Collection was released and the band was set for a summer tour with Poison and Ratt only to be dropped by the tour promoter after ex-White Lion Guitarist Vito Bratta threatened to take legal action over the band name. Eventually Tramp was able to use the original band name again.

White Lion recorded a new studio album called Return of the Pride, which was released on March 14, 2008. The band was now once again simply known as White Lion.

In April 2011, Tramp released the solo album Stand Your Ground featuring the singles "Distance" and "Hyme to Ronnie", a tribute song to former Heaven & Hell and Black Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who died on May 16, 2010 after a six-month-long battle with stomach cancer.

Tramp gave four release concerts at the Zeppelin Bar, Café and Venue in Copenhagen. The four concerts took place on 14–17 August. All the concerts were completely sold out. Tramp delivered outstanding performances with special themes and different set list every night to a dedicated crowd.

After the highly successful US tour earlier in 2014, Tramp embarked on another intimate acoustic solo tour across the US in the spring of 2015 and for the first time visited Canada as well. Tramp played on the Monsters of Rock Cruise and the Monsters of Rock Hangover Cruise.

Nomad was released on August 28, 2015 via Target Records. The album reached number 21 on the Danish Hitlisten albums chart at number 21. Following the album, Tramp embarked with the young Danish band Lucer on a European tour in the late summer, visiting Denmark, Germany, Sweden, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Switzerland. The tour ended at the night on fire festival in Karlsruhe.

In October 2016, Mike Tramp announced his 10th solo album, titled Maybe Tomorrow, a follow up to his most successful and highest-selling solo album Nomad from 2015.

In September 2017 Mike Tramp released a music video for a new single titled “Work It All Out” from his upcoming new box set This & That (But A Whole Lot More), which will be released via Mighty Music / Target Group on December 1, 2017.

In February 2018 Tramp provided lead vocals to a friend's project based in Indonesia for the single "One More Chance" which also features a music video.