He is the frontman for the rock band Filter and a founding member of the supergroups Army of Anyone and The Damning Well, and has served as a touring guitarist for Nine Inch Nails.

Patrick also appeared in the music videos for "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole", "Wish", and one of the two promo videos for "Gave Up" (along with Marilyn Manson), which was filmed in the living room of the infamous house where Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969, as Reznor had leased the house and installed a recording studio in it.

[3] In September 2022, Patrick joined other past members of Nine Inch Nails onstage for a special performance, playing classic tracks from his time with the band as well as covering his Filter hit, "Hey Man Nice Shot".

Four years later, Richard Patrick released Filter's second album, Title of Record, with help from guitarist Geno Lenardo.

Filter's third album, The Amalgamut, was released in 2002, with Patrick canceling most of the supporting tour to check into rehab for alcoholism, a problem that had been plaguing him for years.

[6] After Filter was signed to Wind-up Records in September 2012,[7] Patrick released his sixth studio album The Sun Comes Out Tonight on June 4, 2013.

After launching a PledgeMusic campaign, Patrick and contributing artists Oumi Kapila, Chris Reeve and Ashley Dzerigian released Filter's seventh studio album Crazy Eyes on April 8, 2016.

[8] In 2018, Patrick reunited with Brian Liesegang to record a followup to Short Bus entitled Rebus, and funded the project using PledgeMusic.