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Faith No More Frontman Mike Patton To Sing National Anthem At Rams-Cowboys Game

By Dave Pehling

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Prolific Bay Area rock singer Mike Patton has been announced as the artist singing the National Anthem on Saturday before the Rams vs. Cowboys game being played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The announcement was made Friday afternoon via press release. Patton will be singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" shortly before the scheduled 5:15 PST start of the game in Southern California on Saturday.

Mike Patton
Bay Area rock singer Mike Patton (credit: Ransom & Mitchell)

Patton is renowned for his impressive vocal range and eclectic musical projects, but reaction to the announcement was one of surprise among fans on social media and music news outlets. One headline for the website MetalInsider.net read "Holy S--t -- Mike Patton is singing the National Anthem tomorrow at the Rams/Cowboys game!"

Best known as the lead vocalist with SF alternative-rock outfit Faith No More -- the band had a huge MTV hit with "Epic" from the band's The Real Thing album in 1990 -- Patton got his start with Eureka-based group Mr. Bungle when he was a teenager in the 1980s.

While those two acts may be the more high-profile bands on the singer's resume, starting in the 1990s the singer began exploring a range of experimental sounds, whether leading new bands like his avant-metal all-star quartet Fantômas or the more traditional noise-punk outfit Tomahawk or indulging in one-off live and studio collaborations.

Patton last released an album with Faith No More in 2015 when the reunited group released Sol Invictus, their first new album in nearly 20 years. More recently, the singer has toured extensively with the punk/metal group Dead Cross featuring former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo as well as teaming with fellow iconoclasts DJ Qbert and avant-jazz saxophonist John Zorn for several improvised duo performances at the Chapel in San Francisco's Mission District last year.

On Thursday, the singer announced on his Facebook page that he would be in Los Angeles next week to participate in a posthumous tribute concert for the late Soundgarden and Audioslave singer Chris Cornell. SF band Metallica, the Foo Fighters and Ryan Adams are among the other announced performers for the benefit concert at the Forum on January 16.

 

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