Mike Patton

Mike Patton ranks among rock's most adaptable, naturally gifted, and distinctive vocalists while functioning as one of the field's essential contributors through his commitments to multiple contrasting endeavors such as Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Tomahawk, Peeping Tom, Nevermen, Dead Cross, and a solo path marked by experimentation. Beyond those group and individual efforts, Patton has shown skill as an actor and producer, teaming with an extensive roster of musicians that includes John Zorn, Sepultura, Melvins, Melt Banana, and Kool Keith. He achieved peak commercial traction through the alt-rock/rap-metal collective Faith No More, which rose to prominence in the early '90s with singles that topped charts such as "Epic" and "Angel Dust," yet his remarkably flexible instrument—he shifts among crooning, rapping, bellowing, and screaming—and his capacity to fit nearly every style, from metal, hardcore punk, rap, funk, R&B, avant-garde, electronic, and pop onward, have sustained his role as a central figure in experimental rock across nearly four decades.

Patton entered the world in Eureka, California on January 27, 1968, and first recognized his vocal gifts while forming the offbeat Mr. Bungle alongside high-school companions. That ensemble explored virtually every musical approach conceivable and built regional popularity. Members of Faith No More encountered Patton near 1988 during a local performance. The group was then dealing with difficulties involving its vocalist Chuck Mosley and examined a Mr. Bungle demo Patton supplied. They reacted with astonishment. After Mosley received his dismissal shortly afterward, the musicians searched for a successor. Patton, satisfied as a college attendee performing with Mr. Bungle, showed little initial interest in the offer (notably, the band also approached Chris Cornell of Soundgarden). He eventually reconsidered yet insisted he would remain active in both Faith No More and Mr. Bungle.

Patton delivered significant value to FNM, helping secure international attention through albums including The Real Thing, Angel Dust, and Album of the Year. Mr. Bungle secured a Warner Bros. contract partly because of Patton's emerging prominence and issued its self-titled debut in 1991, produced by experimentalist John Zorn, followed by the widely praised Disco Volante in 1995. Although the outfit never matched FNM's scale of success, it cultivated a devoted and expanding audience. Patton kept collaborating with John Zorn, issuing two solo albums on the Tzadik imprint while also appearing on recordings by Sepultura, the Kronos Quartet, and the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., among additional artists.

One year after Faith No More disbanded in mid-1998, Patton established his own imprint, Ipecac. The label's inaugural release was the self-titled debut from the Patton-fronted all-star experimental unit Fantômas, whose lineup also featured former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osbourne, and Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn. Patton next rejoined Mr. Bungle for one of its strongest efforts, the Beach Boys-tinged California. He later joined ex-Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison's Tomahawk, which included ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier and Melvins bassist Kevin Rutmanis, and assembled the R&B/pop/electronic project Lovage in partnership with hip-hop producer the Automator. He further supplied tracks to Tzadik Records' collections honoring Burt Bacharach, Serge Gainsbourg, and Marc Bolan.

Multiple Patton-related recordings appeared in 2001, among them Fantômas' second album The Director's Cut, Tomahawk's first release, and a joint effort with Dan the Automator on the Lovage full-length. Lovage generated strong interest from fresh listeners, prompting Dan the Automator and Patton to continue songwriting together across 2002 toward a Peeping Tom project. When longtime associates Dillinger Escape Plan suddenly lacked a vocalist that spring, Patton assisted in completing a new EP and remained as interim singer even after the role was filled. In 2004 he partnered with experimental ambient and electro-pop artist Kaada on the album Romances. Following six years refining Patton's distinctive vision of a pop record, Peeping Tom finally emerged in May of 2006.

Patton also ventured into acting via films such as Firecracker and Amnesia while extending his pursuits beyond the studio by supplying voices for the video games The Darkness, The Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Bionic Commando, and lending his raw vocal power to creatures in I Am Legend. In 2008 he created the score for Derrick Scocchera's independent feature A Perfect Place, issued on Ipecac. A long-gestating collection of big-band '50s and '60s Italian crooner interpretations arrived in 2010 under the title Mondo Cane. In 2012 Patton wrote the soundtrack for the ultraviolent Derek Cianfrance-directed crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines, and in 2015 Faith No More returned with Sol Invictus, its first new studio album since 1997's Album of the Year. The next year brought a second Kaada collaboration titled Bacteria Cult. In 2016 Patton united with rapper Doseone and TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe as Nevermen and released a self-titled LP that merged hip-hop and guitar-driven indie rock with electronic pop. In 2017 he issued Dead Cross, the opening album from the hardcore punk supergroup of that name, which also included Slayer and Fantômas drummer Dave Lombardo alongside members of San Diego punk rock outfit Retox. The subsequent year featured Patton delivering the somber score to Netflix's adaptation of Stephen King's period horror-drama 1922, and in 2019 he joined French composer Jean-Claude Vannier for the LP Corpse Flower.