RJ “Bobby” Rosini
May 24 1940 – Feb 1 2003

R.J. Rosini was in the navy in the early 60’s where he eventually crossed paths with Philedelphia Eddie Funk and got his first tattoo. After leaving the Navy RJ found himself  learning the trade and as a biker tattooist  in the 70s he was soon in demand. Rosini opened Denver Tattoo Co. in Denver in the mid 70s and his popularity and influence was on the rise after a feature in Easyrider magazine. RJ owned several shops in the Denver area and began to travel and communicate with other artists. He was in attendance at the first tattoo convention in Houston, TX and was a prolific convention booth holder and guest artist with many notable artists and shops. The pinnacle of RJs vision and efforts was his over 35 years running his  tattoo studio on Main street of  Sturgis, SD during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Races. During the rally it was the premier spot for tattooers and RJ alwaysw had a top rate cast of artists. It was his RJ Rosini Gypsy Tour that he took to conventions all across the country and worked with many of the contemporary artist of the day. In the 80's he opened a small studio in the Kalispell area. Thern in the late 80's he merged his gypsy tour with Wes Grimms Tattoo in Kansas City till the early 90's when he made the final move to Bozeman, Montana. RJs  convention schedule never slowed throughout the years. RJ passed away on February 1 2003 while working a tattoo convention in Vancouver Washington.

I had the great pleasure of knowing and tattooing with RJ at a number of Sturgis rallies and many conventions and at his shop and mine. I did a tattoo on RJ in Sturgis in 1991 and he tattooed me in my Syracuse NY shop in 1994.

Left to Right - Back row: Wes Grimm, RJ Rosini, Rusty Savage – Front row: Jim Kennedy, Bill Stewert, James Rosini,
Bob Montagna Wondo Losky Mike Creeper Espinoza, Hopi Quall, Tammy Cameron, Mike O’Neil