Keith McCurdy

Keith Scott "Bang Bang" McCurdy (born November 28, 1985) is an American celebrity tattoo artist based in New York City. He is known for his work with Rihanna, Cara Delevingne, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, LeBron James, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner.

Early life McCurdy was born to teenage parents Vincent LaCava and Susan McCurdy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. At age 13, McCurdy entered South Kent, a Connecticut boarding school for boys, but was eventually expelled for cheating on a Spanish test and returned to Delaware to start his senior year at Mount Pleasant High School. However, he dropped out of high school to pursue his love of tattoos.

Career McCurdy got his first tattoo at the age of 15 after his parents honored a bargain that they would consent if he made the honor roll. The Superman logo was done for $180 at Tattoos by RC in Folsom, Pennsylvania. He soon made a full commitment to being a tattoo artist by having a gun tattooed on either side of his neck, along with the lettering reading "Bang Bang", which resulted in his professional nickname. He credits his work with her as a catalyst leading to his notoriety among other celebrity clients, whom he frequently allows to tattoo him. He created very iconic tattoos with subject matter and body location that were copied endlessly, an example being the lion face tattooed on Cara Delevingne's index finger. She went in requesting the word "lion" along her finger, although McCurdy suggested instead that he tattoo the face of a lion.

As demand for his work grew, McCurdy went to work between several tattoo parlors, including Last Rites and East Side Ink. When his bid for ownership was spurned, he made plans to launch his own shop, a move which ultimately led to his firing.