Louis Molloy
Encyclopedia
Louis Molloy is a Manchester
-based tattoo
artist who designed David Beckham
's back tattoo, depicting a bald, winged, angelic figure. Beckham calls the tattoo his "guardian angel" and premiered it in 1999 after work finished in April that year.
Molloy has since completed tattoos on other celebrities including Spice Girls
Mel C
, Mel B
and Victoria Beckham
;, all members of Boyzone
and fellow Manchunian Ricky Hatton
.
Molloy first began tattooing in the 1970s despite the fact that at the time no apprenticeships were available to him due to the seedy sub-culture that tattooing was viewed as. Louis spent most of his later teenage years honing his skills, and was only 18 when he opened his first, Manchester
-based tattoo shop, which in the next decade would become a world class establishment.
Some believe Molloy has become known as the tattooist to the stars due to his diverse styles of tattooing, which have twice gained him recognition at the UK Outstanding Artist of the Year awards.
In 2007, Molloy became a part of the Discovery Channel
's television team with the programme "London Ink
". The show follows the daily happenings at the new shop, in the first series the main focus was on the relationship between Dan Gold and Molloy, who expects his shop to do the finest tattoos in London.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
-based tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
artist who designed David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
's back tattoo, depicting a bald, winged, angelic figure. Beckham calls the tattoo his "guardian angel" and premiered it in 1999 after work finished in April that year.
Molloy has since completed tattoos on other celebrities including Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
Mel C
Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Jayne Chisholm is an English singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known simply as Melanie C . She is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice"...
, Mel B
Melanie Brown
Melanie Janine "Scary Spice" Brown , often better known as Mel B, is an English pop singer-songwriter, actress, author and television presenter...
and Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
;, all members of Boyzone
Boyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
and fellow Manchunian Ricky Hatton
Ricky Hatton
Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter....
.
Molloy first began tattooing in the 1970s despite the fact that at the time no apprenticeships were available to him due to the seedy sub-culture that tattooing was viewed as. Louis spent most of his later teenage years honing his skills, and was only 18 when he opened his first, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
-based tattoo shop, which in the next decade would become a world class establishment.
Some believe Molloy has become known as the tattooist to the stars due to his diverse styles of tattooing, which have twice gained him recognition at the UK Outstanding Artist of the Year awards.
In 2007, Molloy became a part of the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
's television team with the programme "London Ink
London Ink
London Ink is a reality show on Discovery Real Time that follows Louis Molloy and three other tattoo artists.Each of the artists brings a different style to London Ink. Louis Molloy, is an expert in parallel and straight lines and other difficult shapes, and has tattooed David Beckham. Dan Gold is...
". The show follows the daily happenings at the new shop, in the first series the main focus was on the relationship between Dan Gold and Molloy, who expects his shop to do the finest tattoos in London.
External links
- Middleton Tattoo Studio
- Louis Molloy on the Discovery Channel