WOW! One of music’s biggest names gets inked in Limerick

POP superstar Sam Smith chose a Limerick tattoo studio to have their latest artwork.

The global sensation – who has won five Grammy Awards, an Oscar and a Golden Globe – dropped into Sanctuary Tattoo Studio on Thomas Street in the heart of Limerick.

The studio revealed the news across its social media channels on Monday evening, sharing photographs of its tattoo artists with the award-winning singer.

Smith has around 14 million followers on Instagram and 17 million subscribers on YouTube, as well as millions more followers across other social media platforms.

Sanctuary revealed that the London-born singer travelled to the Limerick studio with their two sisters, Lily and Mabel, who were also tattooed during the visit which took place on Tuesday, August 4.

“We have spent the last week pinching ourselves, but we can confirm the rumours are true,” Sanctuary said.

“We had the absolute honour of hosting Sam Smith at the studio on Tuesday. They were the most down-to-earth, lovely human to have in the chair.”

The studio has chosen not to reveal details of Smith’s tattoo out of respect for their privacy.

“But the memories are locked in!” Sanctuary said.

“Needless to say, we were all so excited to have the opportunity to have our pictures together! Sam was so nice to indulge us all.”

Owner and tattoo artist Adele Potts said Smith chose Sanctuary because of “the vibe we have”.

“Every day I'm thankful to, and so proud of, my amazing team for being a part of bringing my studio vision to life,” she said.

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“The whole experience was amazing and I truly am so grateful that my little sanctuary was chosen by them!”

Special tribute was also paid to Sanctuary artists Leah Hurley and MooseBearCakes for carrying out the tattoo work on the global superstar.

Sanctuary grew out of Adele’s work as an individual tattoo artist and has since developed into a larger studio, with a number of tattoo artists as well as piercing and beauty services.

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Sam has won five Grammy Awards during their career, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album. They also won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their collaboration with Kim Petras, Unholy.

They co-wrote and performed Writing’s on the Wall, the theme song for the James Bond film Spectre, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2016. The same song also won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Their 2014 breakthrough hit Stay With Me became a huge worldwide success and helped establish Smith as one of the biggest pop stars of their generation.

Sam publicly came out as non-binary in 2019 and uses they/them pronouns.