Pauli Mustajärvi’s posthumous memoir published ahead of his 70th birthday

Pauli “Pate” Mustajärvi’s final book, Testamenttini (My Testament), was released on Tuesday by Yle, just days before what would have been the Finnish musician’s 70th birthday on 12 July.

Mustajärvi, the original lead singer of the rock band Popeda, died on 26 December 2025. He had spent much of the previous year writing his contributions to the book, including the last lines from his hospital bed. His wife, Tiina Mustajärvi, promised to complete it and, with the help of journalist Pasi Kostiainen, delivered the finished manuscript.

Intended as an autobiography, the book became a posthumous memoir. It features contributions from Mustajärvi’s closest circle—his brother, daughter, friends, bandmates, and songwriters—offering a multifaceted portrait of the man, the artist, and the private individual behind the public persona.

Tiina Mustajärvi described the project as a mix of joy, beautiful memories, heartbreak, and profound sorrow, calling it a kind of cleansing process. She hoped her husband would be remembered as a big-hearted man who always considered others—a “normal Finnish guy in an extraordinary profession.”

Mustajärvi had long felt trapped by his stage persona, “Äijä-Pate” (Old Man Pate), a role he adopted as Popeda’s frontman. His wife recalled how the transformation before performances was so complete that she barely recognised him, and the return to himself afterward could take hours.

The book does not shy away from difficult topics, including Mustajärvi’s relationship with alcohol and the media. He wrote candidly about both, acknowledging the symbiotic but fraught dynamic between artists and the press.

Born in Tampere on 12 July 1956, Mustajärvi was a prolific musician, releasing 12 solo albums after leaving Popeda. He received numerous accolades, including the Iskelmä-Finlandia award in 2015 and a lifetime achievement award in Finnish rock in 2017. He performed his last show with Popeda in Tampere in 2023.