Hollywood loves ink, but some tattoos hit harder than others. These ten celebs didn’t pick flash off a wall at 22. Each mark links to a date, a parent, a kid, or a moment that still matters. When you spot the Roman numerals or shaky handwriting, you get it. Tattoos age. Stories don’t. If you’re planning your own, steal the idea, not the design. Meaning beats size every time always.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie has never shied away from tattoos. In fact, the actress currently has over 20 detailed pieces placed throughout her body. While her inked artwork is pretty diverse, her most talked-about inkwork is the compilation on her back. You can see yantra-style script on her spine and right shoulder, which is said to be the Buddhist blessing for peace, love, and prosperity. Then the other piece of Jolie’s upper back tattoo is a Buddhist Pali incantation intended to protect her and Maddox from bad luck.
Billie Joe Armstrong
To say Green Day’s lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, has an incredible collection of tattoos would be an understatement. The musician is adorned with some of the most intricate pieces; we’re talking everything from a mini skull to a smoking baby. Fans have their favourites, but for Armstrong, it’s the photo booth-style images of himself and his wife that has the most pull. It’s probably why he often chooses to roll up the sleeve on his right forearm so he doesn’t hide this inked masterpiece.
Dakota Johnson
Dakota Johnson has over 16 tattoos scattered across her wrists, arms, feet, and back. Yet you barely notice them because of the dainty style used to create each piece. One of her more prominent designs is a trio of birds in mid-flight on her right shoulder blade. Johnson has never publicly discussed the meaning behind this ink work, but fans have long assumed its connection to her grandmother, actress Tippi Hedren, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film, The Birds.
Dwayne Johnson
As big and intimidating as “The Rock” is, the actor and former WWE wrestler is actually a big softie when it comes to choosing his tattoos. Johnson has a huge tribal-inspired tattoo along his chest, shoulder, neck, and upper arm that’s kinda hard to miss. But the details in the artwork are what make it special. Each element represents either his Samoan background, his triumph over his struggles, or, even more importantly, his family. It also makes him look a little more like his even more tattooed-up animated character, Maui.
Emilia Clarke
The Mother of Dragons, known to us in the real world as Emilia Clarke, had a rather special way of holding on to her memories from Game of Thrones. The actress who played Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO series inked three little black dragon silhouettes on her wrist after the final season aired. She also has several other symbolic tattoos, including a bee on her pinky finger, inspired by her character Louisa in the film Me Before You, and a goat on her side as a tribute to a nickname given to her by her late father. They’re all simple designs, but still beautifully executed.
Lady Gaga
The queen of pop knows her way around the tattoo chair. Lady Gaga has a collection of striking pieces (big and small), but one of her most perfectly placed and meaningful designs is the trumpet on her right inner arm. The instrument was sketched by none other than the late Tony Bennett who Gaga collaborated with on the jazz album Cheek to Cheek.
Lewis Hamilton
Sure, Formula 1 racing champ Lewis Hamilton has a few interesting tattoos, but the ones that stand out the most are actually the intricate pieces on his fingers. The tats were done in black and white ink, which gives them a lot more dimension. Plus, there are a number of different symbols and designs on each finger, including a tiger, a UFO abduction, and a planet and moon aligning.
Miyavi
Japanese guitarist and singer Miyavi has some mind-blowing ink work. It actually looks as though someone has taken a brush and gently painted soft strokes across his back, arms and chest. The Kanji symbol on his back is the largest of these pieces. It’s placed over the Heart Sutra (a scripture in East Asian Buddhism) and actually represents his Korean last name, “Lee.”
Rihanna
Riri has a collection of ink artworks that followers love and use as inspiration, but her winged goddess tattoo on her chest is definitely the piece that had fans in a chokehold back in the twenty-tens. The singer tattooed the goddess Isis on her chest as a way to remember her grandmother. Isis was essentially an ancient Egyptian symbol of the perfect mother and wife, so it’s a means of honouring her gran as the same.
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez has one of the most unique watercolour-style tattoos on her back. The inkwork, a pink rose with a dripping black stem, was inspired by a nickname, ‘Rosebud’, her friend Cara Delevingne gave her. The singer shared on Live With Kelly and Ryan that she had always wanted a rose tattoo, and having a matching design with Cara (who had one done on her side) made the design even more meaningful.
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