Heavy Metal Genealogy: Mike Patton Part 2 — Mistakes Were Made

Heather Quinlan says, “Tein virheen anteeksi”

Previously on Heavy Metal Genealogy, I announced to the world that Mike Patton was Finnish. This announcement was even used to throw egg on Dave Mustaine’s face, who claimed Finnish ancestry through the Mustaines. (They’re from Ireland but go ahead and see if you still believe me by the time you reach the end.)

So the only one who’s finished is me. I shall explain.

I recently started volunteering at WikiTree, which is described as “Wikipedia for Genealogists.” My cousin will start sending me barf emojis after reading this but let me tell you, it’s intense, like cite all your sources or DIE intense. Very metal. But they give you a special badge if you add 1,000 people to their virtual tree within a month. (That’s not as metal but for those of you counting, I’m at 595 for June.) So to get the 1,000 badge I thought I’d add the family of the King of Brilliant Musical Weirdos, Mike Patton, whom I’ve been worshipping since 1989 when I was 16 and he was an old man of 21.

These are just some of the many WikiTree badges I’ve accumulated. #metal

It was during today’s family reunion that I learned that Mike Patton is not Finnish. He’s step-Finnish, if that’s a thing. Mike Patton is actually ……