One of the most popular of these celebrities is, of course, Angelina Jolie. Although she is currently best known for her activities on behalf of the United Nations, her marriage to Brad Pitt and her family of multinational adopted children, in past years she was infamous for her body art.
The Oscar-winning actress has more than a dozen tattoos at present, and has not hesitated in past years to have the name of her current love immortalized in ink on her body.
On the other end of the spectrum, as far as respectability goes, is British soul singer Amy Winehouse, whose body is a virtual canvas for the tattoo artist's needle.
Although her album Back in Black was released to critical acclaim and strong sales, in recent years Winehouse has become better known for the shambles her private life has become.
In 2007 she married Blake Fielder-Civil; it was a troubled marriage, to say the least, beset by allegations of spousal abuse, and eventually ended in divorce on 2009.
Winehouse has also struggled with substance abuse, resulting in erratic behavior that has been well-documented by the tabloids.
The Amy Winehouse tattoos that have been listed in various websites include an anchor with the words Hello Sailor on her belly, a singing bird on her lower right arm, the first name of her husband Blake over a picture of a pocket on her left breast, and on various other parts of her body, an angel, a feather, a horseshoe and a lightning bolt.
Most recently she also got an American eagle flying behind an Egyptian ankh tattooed on her upper back between her shoulders.
The sheer amount of body art Winehouse sports has also inspired artists in other media. Artist Andrew Salomone recently showed off an Amy Winehouse tattoo sweater on his blog, on which he embroidered all her tattoos in the correct places.
Salomone expressed the hope that the sweater would allow her to keep warm and maintain her health, while still letting her show off her distinctive body art.