Blog

Stevie Ray Vaughan got a peacock tattoo on his chest in 1973 at age 19. After a night of heavy drinking, he and some members of the band he was in decided to get tattoos. He describes the tattoo artist as this crusty old guy with a cigarette butt hanging' out of his mouth. Smoke was blown right into his face as his tattoo was completed. Stevie actually selected an arm tattoo, but requested that it be placed on the middle of his chest. Vaughan wanted a tattoo of a grand phoenix bird rising from the ashes, but it ended up looking more like a baby peacock. The old guy proceeded to bestow a great deal of pain on Stevie as he bore down. While most tattoo artists will tattoo a little, then stop and pause to give the customer a little relief, this old guy just kept on tattooing, never letting up. He would say, "Does this hurt?" then he would laugh, as he continued tattooing. The pain was so much that Vaughan swore he would never get another tattoo again.

Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 to August 27, 1990) was an American blues-rock guitarist whose broad appeal made him an influential electric blues guitarist. He began playing guitar at a young age and found contacts in the music business after dropping out of high school. He began to record albums in 1983 with the band Double Trouble and continued to do so until his death in 1990. However, by 1986, drugs and alcoholism has taken a toll on Vaughan in the forms of cocaine and whiskey. Dissolving cocaine in his whiskey every morning was his favorite "pick-me-up". After getting sick on tour in Germany, he entered rehab. In August 1990, Vaughan died in a helicopter crash. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone magazine'' ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, and ''Classic Rock Magazine'' ranked him #3 in their list of the 100 Wildest Guitar Heroes in 2007.

Lindsay Dee Lohan (born July 2, 1986) is an actress, model and singer. Lohan is known for various big bold life decisions, apparently her tattoos are small delicate pieces. The first tattoo she has is a small black outlined Star on her left Arm. The second is the Italian phrase "la bella vita" on the right side of her Lower Back. It simply means "life isBeautiful" and there are two theories about its meaning. One is that it is a dedication to her late Italian grandfather and how he viewed life. Another version is that it is title of one of her songs. Lohan also has the word breathe on the inside of her right wrist, inspired by the John Lennon quote "Get out there and get peace, think peace, live peace, and breathe peace, and you'll get it as soon as you like." She also says that she got the tat after a severe asthma attack on New Year's Eve in 2005 as a reminder of that night and to take in life every day. A very hard to notice tattoo of Lohan's is a small white Heart on her hand between her thumb and index finger. She first got that tattoo in 2006 with then boyfriend, Harry Morton. In 2008, she updated it by outlining the Heart in black and her gal pal Samantha Ronson got a matching one on her left hand. On the same occasion, Lindsay had a red Star tattoo added to her right hand that matches Samantha's tattoo on her right Arm. 

Though she began her acting Career as child actor and model, she is probably best known from the 1998 remake, The Parent Trap. She rose to fame during her teenage years in movies like Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. Although she has notable acting roles (Georgia Rule, Bobby, A Prairie Home Companion) and two pop Music albums under her belt, Lohan is probably best known for her numerous rehab trips and legal troubles. Spending time with Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton, Lohan has been tagged as just another partyGirl despite her obvious talents. She has recently been the center of rumors of her sexuality and relationship with friend and DJ Samantha Ronson.

Lohan must have enjoyed her tattooing experiences a lot because in 2006 there were talks of her opening her own tattoo parlor, marketed to young society people. She wanted to create a complete brand which will move into clothes and merchandising. Sources say she may still be considering the business.

Jack Rudy is a well known and respected American tattoo artist. He began his working career in the Marines. However, his time in the military ended in the year of 1975. The first thing he did when he was finished with his profession with the Marines was to start as a tattoo apprentice. His tattoo apprenticeship began at a place called Goodtime Charlie's Tattooland. Goodtime Charlies Tattooland was a tattoo parlor located in East Los Angeles and had a reputation for producing quality and artistic tattoos. Many soldiers would travel there to get snake tattoos, dragon tattoos and traditional military tattoos. In addition, their low rider tattoos were incredibly popular as well, most likely due to the location of the tattoo shop in East Los Angeles. The tattoo shops owner, Charlie Cartwright, was a good friend of Rudy's from Marine boot camp. During their time tattooing together, both Rudy and Charlie excelled as artists. They both began to hone not only their artistic ability when it came to creating beautifully done colored and black and great tattoos, but they created a brand new method of tattooing. While others were still doing traditional multi-needle tattoos, the two were doing black and gray style tattoos with a single needle. At first, they began to create these new and innovative tattoos just for fun. However, as they began to hone their skills at these incredibly detailed black and gray tattoos, the client base who was requesting this particular type of tattoo grew. Before they knew it, there were people lining up outside of their door to see what the single needle tattoos looked like, hoping to get an appointment to get one themselves.

The particular type of tattoo style Rudy and Charlie produced became known as a "Penitentiary-Style" tattoo. In fact, those who were fresh out of prison often stopped by to get a single needle tattoo and those in prison were often those who had recently acquired one from Rudy or Charlie. As these tattoos became more and more popular, Rudy and Charlie decided to create a single-needle tattoo machine to assist in creating them in an easier method. As the machine was developed and as Jack Rudy and Charlie Cartwright began to do more of these black and gray tattoos, they became even more popular as artists in the tattoo industry. This was due to the throw back look of their new styles to old fashioned jail or penitentiary tattoos. The styles were very simple and easy to mimic, which appealed to many tattoo enthusiasts. As these tattoos became more popular, Rudy became one of the most popular tattoo artists in the country. In fact, he is currently known as the forefather of this black and gray style. Not only are the tattoos he does in this style simple in design, they are also considered to be realistic. With his single needle style he often does portraits and other realistic tattoos. The single needle allows him to tattoo fine details onto the skin, creating incredibly realistic photos on the skin.

Jack Rudy is known as one of the greatest American tattoo artists of all time. He is currently known as one of the people responsible for the reinvention of the black and gray single needle style of tattooing. He is also known for doing realistic portraits and other fine line tattoo work. Other tattoo artists in the industry look up to him and often try to replicate his fine line work. In addition, Jack Rudy is also the president of Beatnik's Car Club. The organization is a car club in Los Angeles which requires its members to have hot rods from the 1950s. Most members also are heavily inked, with lots of tattoos. He now is an owner of Tattooland, an old school street shop which is located in Anaheim, California. He enjoys spending his time within his artistry as well as focusing on hot rod cars. Jack Rudy does tattoos from Tattooland and continues to perfect and work on his black and gray signature tattoo, with a single needle. The waiting list to be tattooed by Rudy is incredibly long with most customers desiring a genuine portrait tattoo from the portrait king himself. There are few artists today who can replicate Jack Rudy's fine line tattoo work and portrait work. While artists like Kat Von D and others are incredibly talented at fine line portrait work as well, they too look up to tattoo greats like Jack Rudy and hope to one day be as respected as he within the tattoo industry.

Celebrities come and go, but there is one famous metal God who is here to stay! Whether he is performing his music or entertaining the world via the television, Ozzy Osbourne is a super star celebrity. No matter if Ozzy is performing on stage or on a reality show, he has proven to be unforgettable. His crazy style, massive amounts of tattoos, attitude, outlook on life and humorous family make him one interesting character. Born in Aston, Birmingham to Jack and Lillian Osbourne, Ozzy's birth name is John Micheal Osbourne. Having seven siblings and both parents working to support them, Ozzy found himself struggling in school. By the age of fifteen he was working odd jobs, from holding a position as a plumber to being a professional toolmaker. Later, in the age of psychedelic rock popularity, Ozzy tried out and became the lead singer of the band Black Sabbath. Along with his schoolmate Tony Lommi, he entered the world of rock and roll. The two separated themselves from the usual music influences of the time by combining heavy dark lyrics with a blues inspired style. Osbourne was eventually fired from the band after partaking in drugs too heavily and becoming far too unreliable. Years later Ozzy went solo under his own name and alias. He grew rapidly and gained a great deal of popularity throughout the heavy metal music industry and fanbase. Heavily tattooed and adorned with unusual garb, he was an attention getting and ultimate show stopper.

Ozzy's popularity is not only due to his musical talent as a singer and songwriter but also in his role as husband and father on his reality television show, The Osbourne's. His daily life as a spouse and dear old dad were shared with the nation in the early 2000s. Comedy, love and life in general have helped the world feel as if they almost know him personally. Parents could see themselves in his reflection as Ozzy told his daughter Kelly she should not get tattooed, though Ozzy himself has numerous tattoos. She ultimately did so without his permission, which caused an uproar in the Osbourne home. However, it was interesting how Ozzy, who is completely covered in tattoos, was advising his daughter against getting one. Many parents completely related. While they are heavily tattooed themselves, they are often unsure if their children are getting inked for the right reasons. Sure, many people get tattoos for fashion statement purposes. However, intense artists and musicians feel one should only get tattooed if there is a purpose or story behind the tattoo itself. Ozzy has a multitude of tattoos covering his body. He has Ozzy tattooed across the knuckles of his left hand, his wife Sharon's name below a rose on his upper right arm, tattoo art on his lower right arm, a woman's face tattooed on his upper left arm, a dagger tattoo on his lower right arm, a screaming face tattoo and a hooded skull tattoo on his chest and many others. Ozzy has made the comment he is addicted to tattoos and continues to get more though he has often told himself at the time he is done getting inked. However, as a true fan of tattoo art it seems Ozzy cannot resist the temptation of continuing to be tattooed.

It's true Ozzy understands a thing or two about addiction, after battling drug abuse and alcoholism. His substance abuse reached a dangerous point in which he nearly strangled his wife and manager Sharon. In addition, during this raging time he shot several of his pets. His rage and struggle with drugs made headlines more than a few times throughout this musical career. However, he has gone through rehabilitation and has been clean for several years. It seems no matter what draws audiences to Ozzy Osbourne, from tattoos to outrageous behavior, no one can get enough of him. Ozzy has said as of 2008 he will put out two more albums and then ultimately retire. For those die hard fans it is hard to swallow the thought of the prince of darkness ending his amazing career. From Black Sabbath and beyond, Ozzy will never be forgotten and his music will be rocked out to until the end of time. He will constantly be known as the rocker guy from Europe who is covered in tattoos, is known for biting a bats head off during a concert, went through addiction, got help and got clean and revealed his sweet side via his reality show, The Osbourne's.

Ozzy Osbourne Tattoo By Tattoo Johnny Artist Bob Tyrrell

Show me more Bob Tyrrell Tattoo Designs