More Artwork by Billy White Jr.

Other tattoo designs...

Appetite for Destruction painting

The original cover with Robert William's painting. The robot is a rapist and the thing on top could be interpreted as a "metal avenger". Many stores refused to sell the album because of the provocating image. They changed the cover but still kept the painting inside of the album. If you ever get the chance to find an album with this cover, keep it preciously as it is a collector's item.

Appetite for Destruction Tattoo Design

The top drawing is the 1st original design of the cross tattoo. It's the one Axl has on his arm. Note the differences with the final result for the album cover.

Intro

Billy White Jr. is the tattoo artist who designed the famous Guns N' Roses celtic cross used on the CD cover of their 1987 debut album "Appetite for Destruction." The original album cover was baised on the Robert William's painting of the same name, but was banned from record stores for having some controversial artwork. That's when Billy White Jr. came in with an original tattoo design for Axl Rose to get on his arm of a celtic cross with human skulls on the tips and center of the cross, each representing one of the five band members. The rest of the band thought it was genius and decided to make it not only a great tattoo but also an album cover that eventually became one of the most influencial album artworks in rock n' roll.