Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968, in Eureka, California) is a Grammy nominated musician, best known as the lead singer of the band Faith No More from 1988 to 1998. He has also handled lead vocals for Mr. Bungle (which preceded his involvement with FNM), Tomahawk, Lovage, Fantômas, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Peeping Tom.
Patton is also known for utilizing a wide variety of vocal styles and techniques; as such, his performances include airy falsetto passages, Sinatra-esque lounge crooning, rapping, death metal grunts, Medieval-style chanting, an abrasive take on scat singing featuring various shrieks, screeches, and the occasional jostling of his Adam's apple while singing; as well as beatboxing and a variety of authentic-sounding vocal emulations of flowing water, a train, a computer voice, or other items. Critic Greg Prato writes, "Patton could very well be one of the most versatile and talented singers in rock music."[1] His vocal techniques can also be witnessed in the 2007 first-person shooter, The Darkness.
He often produces side projects in collaboration with other musicians, such as John Zorn, Dan the Automator, The Melvins, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Melt-Banana, Sepultura, Merzbow, Kool Keith, The X-Ecutioners, Team Sleep, Björk, Subtle, Rahzel, Amon Tobin, Eyvind Kang, Lovage, and Kaada. He co-founded Ipecac Recordings with Greg Werckman in 1999, and has run the label since.
Patton is 5 feet 8 inches tall. His right hand is permanently numb from an on-stage incident during his third concert with Faith No More, where he accidentally cut himself on a broken bottle and severed the tendons and nerves in his hand. He can use his hand, but he has no feeling in it (much to the surprise of both Patton and his doctor, who told him the exact opposite would happen).
From Wikipedia
