After three decades of tattooing New Orleanians, tourists and Hollywood stars, Electric Ladyland Tattoo Parlor quietly vacated its canary-yellow building on Frenchmen Street, closing its red doors for good in May.
Its closure reflects a broader transformation unfolding on the thoroughfare, once a corridor of clubs and local establishments that has evolved into one of the city’s busiest nightlife destinations, crowded with bars, venues and tourists.
Over the past six months, several independent businesses have come and left along Frenchmen. In November 2025, Mélange began serving drinks made with zero-proof liquor and THC-infused beverages in an elegant space above Bamboula’s. Meanwhile, in January, Frenchmen All Day closed after five years of making bloody marys and Cuban sandwiches within a distinctly European atmosphere.
Named after Jimi Hendrix’s final studio album, Electric Ladyland Tattoo attracted a steady clientele of locals and celebrities.
In its early years, artists tattooed a flower on Marisa Tomei’s ankle and a parrot on Harry Anderson’s back. Billy Bob Thornton even had one “Angelina” tattoo inked in black cursive on his forearm.
The shop first began operating from an outpost on Earhart Street in Uptown before founder Ernie Gosnell sold the business to Annette LaRue, who relocated it to the Marigny in 2000. Thirteen years later, LaRue sold the shop to Ed Dieringer, a longtime friend and veteran employee who made few changes to a business that had long established itself as a Frenchmen institution.
Dieringer could not be reached for comment.
The shop took on a new meaning after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Artists inked fleur-de-lis, levees and waves on the arms and backs of storm victims — from police officers and ambulance drivers to fathers and daughters.
Then-artist Jay Lyons described that period as “a busy time” for the shop, with a new wave of clientele seeking to memorialize their hardships even as many local businesses struggled to recover.
Best Body-Piercing/Tattoo Parlor: Electric Ladyland
“We had limited resources, but we stayed open as long as possible,” Lyons said in a 2015 interview, “Tattooing until we couldn’t tattoo any more.”
Dieringer took over Electric Ladyland Tattoo nearly a decade after the storm, making only minor changes to preserve the shop as the Marigny and Bywater underwent rapid revitalization. He assembled a staff with expertise spanning large-scale Japanese-style tattooing, traditional Americana and black-and-white photorealism.
Electric Ladyland Tattoo faced another challenge when the coronavirus pandemic shut down New Orleans in 2020. Even as businesses reopened after two months of lockdown, the shop remained closed during the first phase of the state’s economic comeback because of regulations governing tattoo parlors.
Eventually, however, the shop welcomed customers through its red doors once again, continuing until its final appointment.
Asked in a 2013 interview what made Electric Ladyland so inviting, Dieringer offered a simple answer: “It has personality. And just like anything, it has soul.”
