As Anthony Kiedis takes to the spotlight this evening, we thought we’d bring the topic of his tattoos to the table. Even if you’re in the golden circle tonight, you’re still not going to be close enough to see the detail that makes up his numerous pieces of body art. Here’s a helpful guide, so you don’t have to squint your eyes in the crowd. Know exactly what’s permanently drawn on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ lead singer’s bod, and enjoy more detailed fantasies.
Kiedis has 10 tattoos of which the majority are in black ink bar, two on the inner side of his arm which are in colour. His tattoos reflect aspects of his life, like his North American heritage. His first tattoo was of Chief Sitting Bull, done on his upper right arm while Chief Joseph followed on his left. His back tattoo stretches across his entire back, and was completed in the 1980s.
Henk Schiffmacher, famous for his work on rock ‘n roll icons, began work on his Inca/Aztec tattoo in February 1988 and it was completed over an 18 month period while Kiedis was on tour in Amsterdam.
Red Hot Chili Peppers By The Way: The Biography by Dave Thompson; page 120-1On our visits to Amsterdam, I had befriended an amazing tattoo artist named Hank Schiffmacher. Hank, also known as Henky Penky, was an icon of his country-an underground philosopher, artist, Hell’s Angel associate, booze hound, drug hound, girl hound, an absolute rapscallion of Dutch proportions. Over the years, Hank had injected much ink into my skin, and in the process, we’d become close.
On that first trip to Holland (around the Pink Pop Festival dates in Finland), however, Kiedis was preparing to endure the fist pricks of the enormous cubic Indian totem image that would eventually engulf his back. Schiffmacher told him it would be the work of many visits, each one time-consuming (up to six hours at a time) and also very painful. Kiedis replied, jokingly, that given his own schedule, it would also take several years.
The 1990s saw a bold band added underneath each Indian chief, and he got inked with a tiger in 2001:
‘Inside the Veins of the Velvet Groove’ by Martin RoachA tiger, added in 2001, was to help him get over the pain of creaking up with his girlfriend, and represents both his Chinese birth sign and the Thai tradition of tigers bringing longevity and protection to the wearer- and he enjoys adding the detail that he is Tony the Tiger, the cartoon cat from the Kellogg’s Frosties add.
His latest addition is a koi carp that was added around 2006, “a symbol of overcoming adversity,” he says, “of swimming up current, so to speak.” His smallest tattoo, located on his right wrist, is the most noteworthy to RHCP fans as it depicts the band’s asterisk logo.
And those are his visible tats. The rest, we wonder…
[Source: Anthony Kiedis.net]
(born November 1, 1962) is an American musician and occasional actor best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his mother before moving to Hollywood, California at the age of eight to be with his father. Shortly after high-school, Kiedis embarked on a short stint at UCLA, but dropped out after losing interest because of substance abuse. After dropping out, Kiedis received an offer to be the opening act for a local band, and enlisted friends Flea, Hillel Slovak, and Jack Irons to assist, a line-up which eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The Tattoos of Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis has a large number of tattoo’s. Anthony’s tattoos haven’t got loads of ink with all his tattoos being in just black and white. Because of Anthony’s Native American background he’s gone for some Native American tribal designs. Red Hot Chili Pepper lead-singer Anthony Kiedis is known for his growing collection of tribal-style tattoos. His collection has grown slowly over the years and now spreads over this back and his arms. Although he’s not gotten tons of ink, he has chosen pieces that are bold and distinctive. All of his tattoos are just in black and white and this makes them go together well. Kiedis has some Native American heritage and this has shaped a lot of his choices for his skin art.
You’ll find lots of pages about Anthony’s back tattoo on the web. Some call it an Incan falcon, some say it’s an Aztec design. My best research would lead me to believe it’s not any of those, but a Haida Thunderbird. This artwork comes from the tribes of the Pacific Northwest and is a stylization of an eagle. I can say with more certainty that it was tattooed by Henk Schiffmacher, aka Hanky Panky, an Amsterdam tattooist. The Peppers collectively hung out in Schiffmacher’s tattoo studios back in their earlier days and all of the members of the band have got some sort of tattoo work from him.
The work down Anthony’s arms has turned out fairly symmetrical. Each upper arm has a portrait of a Native American chief. One is of Chief Joseph and the other is of Sitting Bull. Each bicep has a blackwork, tribal-style armband going all the way around it. These are the styles that sort of riff on Borneon designs without being specific to that culture. Kiedis has had them since the early 90s, when this type of art was less common, but now this type of design is found on many tattoo fans.
The latest ink that Kiedis has are a pair of tribal-style daggers on each forearm. These incorporate Celtic linework and patterns in a stylized tribal outline and run from his elbows down to his wrists. These two tattoos are similar but are not identical. On the inside of his right forearm he also has a tiger tattoo which runs the entire length from elbow to wrist. This is the typical “climbing” cat style often seen in panthers and other tattooed predator cats.
Want to find out what some of this Red Hot Chili Pepper's tattoo designs & symbols mean?
Check out: Tribal Tattoos, Tiger, Haida Tattoo Symbols,
Celtic Tattoo Designs, Fleur-de-lis, Dagger Tattoos.