Rose Tattoo Tickets

Short Biography

When it comes to naming Aussie Rock Legends the name Rose Tattoo is high up on the list. Formed almost 35 years ago the band is still exalted globally as one of the purist, loudest, dirtiest, loveable rock bands to ever grace the stage, be it in a sweaty Aussie pub or at an outdoor European stadium.

The band was formed in 1976 by Pete Wells and Angry Anderson. Rose Tattoo made an impact through their uncompromising, “take no prisoners” attitude to their music and their shows. They are credited as being the inspiration for Guns and Roses and can claim true fans in Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Motley Crue, Aerosmith, Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and German rock heroes Boez Onkelz to name just a few who have publicly spoken kindly of the Tatts.

In a business sense, the band never reached their true potential globally. They would not play the music industry game. The Tatts did things one way – The Tatts way – wether others agreed or disagreed – wether they were right or they were wrong. They never faltered being true to themselves, wether it came at a cost or not.

Rose Tattoo has a long and deep history. The band is a real story of survival – driven on by their music through the highs and lows of what is a truly amazing story that now spans almost 35 years.

Losing founding member Pete Wells to Prostate Cancer in 2006 was an enormous loss to the band. Soon after the loss of Pete another original Tatt, Ian Rilen, was lost to cancer. Although Ian had not been playing with the band for many years, he was the writer of Bad Boy For Love, and a beloved member of the Rose Tattoo family. In 2007 another former band member was taken by cancer. Australian guitar legend Lobby Lloyd played with the band in the 80’s. The bands new logo features 3 roses, one for each of the lost brothers.

Rose Tattoo is Angry Anderson, Geordie Leach – Bass, Paul DeMarco – Drums, Rockin’ Rob Riley – Guitar, Dai Pritchard – Guitar.

Mick Cocks, the bands original guitar player, has been diagnosed with Liver cancer and is currently fighting the disease at his home in Sydney.

Although the death of his close friends had left a massive hole in the life of singer Angry Anderson, he wanted – especially in respect to Pete Wells – to keep the band alive. Angry explains. “Peter said to me: You have to make the choice, but my opinion is that Rose Tattoo should still carry on after my death.“ and with this he saw that it was his duty to carry on the work that his friend had done over the years. “At first I wasn’t too sure whether I could carry on the work with Rose Tattoo, but now with the experience taken from the latest album Blood Brothers, I know that Peter is still with us and lives in our songs.“

Despite the many challenges along the way the bad boys of rock have toured the world creating an army of fans who know that there is only one Rose Tattoo and they love the band for what they are. What you see is what you get!

Rose Tattoo tour Europe every summer playing to huge audiences at the major summer festivals. In Europe the band is revered as true hard rock pioneers – legends that many bands have taken inspiration from. A band that the fans know will always deliver 110%

In-depth Biography
Aussie hard rock combo Rose Tattoo have persisted on and off with many personnel changes for well over 30 years, and by the end of the 2000s were still making live appearances despite the deaths, often by cancer, of most of the early band's lineup. The group was formed in Sydney in 1976 by ex-Buffalo guitarist Peter Wells and -- with the additions of former Buster Brown vocalist Angry Anderson, guitarist Mick Cocks, bassist Ian Rilen, and drummer Dallas "Digger" Royal -- made its public bow on New Year's Eve at the local club Chequers, which several years earlier launched the career of AC/DC. Chiefly inspired by the Rolling Stones and the Faces, Rose Tattoo's ferocious, ear-splitting sound quickly earned a devoted following among Sydney area pubgoers, and in 1978 the group signed to Albert Productions; its debut single, "Bad Boy for Love," was written by Rilen, who left the lineup prior to the record's release. Anderson's onetime Buster Brown bassist Geordie Leach was recruited for Rose Tattoo's self-titled debut LP; after nearly three years of relentless touring, a period that saw Aussie guitar hero Lobby Loyde briefly replace Leach on bass, they issued the follow-up, Assault & Battery, in 1981.

After a tour of Europe that saw them hailed as the loudest band to play London's Marquee Club since Led Zeppelin, Rose Tattoo returned to Australia to begin work on their third album; with new guitarist Robin Riley replacing Cocks, they issued Scarred for Life in 1982, subsequently touring the U.S. in support of Aerosmith and ZZ Top. However, over the course of 1983 Wells, Royal, and Riley all left the group, with the remaining duo of Anderson and Leach recruiting guitarists Greg Jordan and John Meyer along with drummer Scott Johnston to record 1984's Southern Stars. Leach then exited to join Wells, Royal, and Riley in the short-lived Illustrated Men; Anderson and Johnston continued on as Rose Tattoo, enlisting guitarist Tim Gaze and bassist Andy Cichon for 1986's Beats from a Single Drum. Anderson finally mounted a solo career soon after, as did Wells. After years of substance abuse, Royal died in 1991.

At the request of longtime fans Guns N' Roses, Anderson, Wells, Cocks, Leach, and new drummer Paul DeMarco re-formed Rose Tattoo in 1993 to open for the Gunners on their Australian tour; the reunion proved brief, however, and upon completing the tour each member returned to his solo endeavors. The same lineup, with original bassist Ian Rilen replacing Leach, re-formed yet again in 1998 for the All Hell Breaks Loose!! tour; by the following year, Leach had returned to the fold once more. The live album 25 to Life arrived in fall 2000, followed by the studio effort Pain, featuring a lineup of Anderson, Wells, Riley, and DeMarco along with bassist Steve King, in 2002. Sadly, founding members Peter Wells and Ian Rilen both died of cancer in 2006; yet Rose Tattoo carried on, over 30 years after the band first formed, to release Blood Brothers in 2007 (the same year that Lobby Loyde would die in Melbourne after battling lung cancer), with a lineup featuring Anderson, returning guitarist Mick Cocks, King, DeMarco, and guitarist Dai Pritchard. But then, guitarist Cocks died of cancer in December of 2009; guitarist Robin Riley and bassist Geordie Leach have now reportedly returned to the band's lineup, which still includes longtime vocalist Angry Anderson, drummer DeMarco, and guitarist Pritchard. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi