TattoosCelebrity Tattoos and The Stories Behind Them
Published: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 00:00
Clowns, stars, animals, exes' names...if it can be etched into the skin, chances are there's a celebrity who has the tattoo. So which celebs are basically walking art museums, which ones have regrettable tats that only a scorned ex-girlfriend could love, and which ones just need to step away from the needle? Keep reading to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Angelina Jolie's TattoosAngelina Jolie
The world's hottest woman may be considered a saint for her do-gooding deeds, but she's still a bad-ass chick at heart. Though she's ditched her ill-advised "Billy Bob" arm tattoo after splitting with one Mr. Thornton, Angelina certainly isn't lacking for ornamentation. Among her (according to Wikipedia) 13 tattoos are: geographical coordinates to the birthplaces of her four children; a Tennessee Williams quote that reads "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages"; a Latin proverb that translates to "what nourishes me also destroys me"; and Buddhist prayers. In addition to Billy Bob, Angelina has also removed tattoos of a window and the Chinese character for death.
Angelina Jolie's Tattoos"I am still at heart-and always will be-just a punk kid with tattoos," Jolie told Season Magazine. A punk kid who just happens to make babies with the hunk of all hunks, Brad Pitt, who has been sporting his own ink lately.
Bret Michaels' TattoosBret Michaels
Regrettable tattoos and Bret Michaels just seem to go hand in hand.
Cameras rolled as wannabe girlfriend/"Rock of Love" contestant Heather the Stripper got Bret's name tattooed on the back of her neck as a gesture of love. But when Bret gave her the Heisman in favor of rival Jes, Heather flipped out, saying, "Now I have that %&@# %*!% name on my neck!" Word to the wise: Never have the name of a man who's got a bandana comb-over and 10 other girlfriends permanently tagged to your body.
Bret Michaels's TattoosIf it's any comfort to Heather, Bret's had his own issues with tattoos gone awry. The rocker once had a tattoo artist pal create a "Something to Believe In" tattoo in memory of his late friend Kimo, who inspired the song of the same name. Unfortunately, there's no spell check on those needles, and he ended up with a tattoo reading, "Something to Beleeve In." Not cool. Luckily Bret was able to get the spelling fixed during the same visit in which Heather defiled her body.
Johnny Depp's TattoosJohnny Depp
Speaking of bad ideas, who can forget Johnny Depp's "Winona Forever" tat...which now reads "Wino Forever"? Depp had it altered after breaking up with onetime fiancée Winona Ryder, but that bad experience clearly hasn't turned the actor off getting more tattoos.
According to BellaOnline.com, Depp's body art includes a Cherokee Indian chief; the infamous "Wino Forever"; his mother's name; his daughter's name; an inverted triangle; a skull and crossbones with the line "Death is certain"; the number three; a sparrow in honor of his "Pirates of the Caribbean" character, Captain Jack Sparrow; and a series of squares that he refers to as a "permanent phone doodle."
Kimberly Stewart's TattooKimberly Stewart
Chalk up another one for love-obsessed tattoos gone wrong. When Kimberly Stewart (daughter of Rod) got engaged to musician/improbable lothario Cisco Adler, she did what every bride-to-be would do: change her "Daddy's Little Girl" tattoo to say "Daddy's Little Girl Loves Cisco."
Interestingly enough, Kimberly had a Plan B in case she and Cisco broke up. "If I ever split with him then I would change it to 'Daddy's little girl loves Disco,'" she told ContactMusic.com in 2004.
Talk about self-fulfilling prophecies. The couple did split up, and Kimberly is now a card-carrying disco queen.
Fun fact: For his part Cisco had a heart topped with Kimberly's name inked on his chest, which apparently peeved his next girlfriend, Mischa Barton.
David Beckham's TattoosDavid Beckham
Why David Beckham feels the need to cover his smokin'-hot body with black ink is beyond us, but it does give us a good excuse to dig up half-naked pictures of the sexy athlete.
In his book "Beckham: Both Feet On The Ground," he opens up about his many tattoos. "Mine are all about the people in my life, my wife and sons, who I want to have with me always," he says. "When you see me, you see the tattoos. You see an expression of how I feel about Victoria and the boys. They're part of me."
So what kind of tats are we talking about? According to Marriage.About.com, Beckham's bod features the names of his sons, his wife's misspelled name in Hindi script, a Latin phrase meaning "so that I love and cherish," guardian angels, his old Manchester United number, and the sayings "spiritual perfection" and "in the face of adversity."
According to Just Jared, Beckham's latest tattoo on his right forearm celebrates his move to LA and was inspired by the (fake) tats Wentworth Miller has in "Prison Break." The two-foot-long tattoo features his new playing number (#23) and connects his angel and cloud tattoos.
Evan Rachel Wood's TattooEvan Rachel Wood
If you're going to date Marilyn Manson, you had better look the part. Just ask actress Evan Rachel Wood, who received a tattoo from Manson as a Valentine's Day gift, Yahoo! News reports.
"It's a lightning bolt - for David Bowie, who inspired me to act and sing - and a black heart," Wood says. "That was my present (from Manson). Somebody came to the house. We both got black hearts. It represents mad love."
While Wood may love that tattoo, she admitted that a tattoo in honor of her Beatles-inspired film, "Across the Universe," is getting the boot.
"It's supposed to be a strawberry with leaves in the shape of a bird, but everybody says, `Is that a ferret sticking out of an apple?'"
Sporty Spice's TattoosSporty Spice
Melanie Chisholm (aka Sporty Spice) isn't the only Spice Girl to rock some skin ink, but she does have the most tattoos.
The singer told The San Francisco Gate that she got her phoenix tattoo in honor of her solo album. According to MelCNews.com, she also sports a Celtic arm band, the Japanese characters for woman and strength, a Celtic cross, an angel in honor of her grandparents, a lotus flower, a Chinese dragon, a star (in honor of her album "Northern Star" going platinum), and the Thai words for happiness and love. That's a lot for a jog bra and track pants to cover up.
Ironically, Melanie C. has told The Sun that she now regrets her tattoos, Yahoo! News reports. "Don't you think they're such a ridiculous thing to do to yourself," she has said. "Now I see it's odd to mark yourself forever. They look nice when you're toned and tanned and fabulous. But when I put on weight they looked awful. I haven't had one for seven years now," she added.
Amy Winehouse's TattoosAmy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse may not be up for rehab, but she's definitely ready to go to the tattoo parlor. The party-loving chanteuse - a former self-cutter - has 13 tattoos, The Daily Mail reports, and has said that, "It's a way of suffering for the things that mean a lot to you. Actually I like the pain. To me, it relieves you."
Winehouse also told ContactMusic.com that her tattoos - most of which feature naked women that would make a sailor blush - are an antidote to boredom. "I like looking at pretty pictures," she says. "I get bored looking in the mirror and seeing the same thing. So I just keep getting more and more."
That must also explain the teased-up hair and the eyeliner that looks like it was applied with a paint roller.
Pink's TattoosPink
Pink doesn't just have a lot of tattoos - her husband, motocross racer Carey Hart (not to be confused with sunglass-wearing '80s heartthrob Corey Hart) owns the Hart & Huntington tattoo parlor chain.
According to TattooBlog.org, Pink and Hart both have "Tru Luv" tattoos in honor of their coupling. VanishingTattoo.com reveals that the pop star also has tattoos of a bar code on her neck, an angel on her back, a frog, a dragon, dog tags, and the words "Sir Corky Moore" and "What Comes Around Goes Around" - and that's just for starters.
Orlando Bloom's TattoosOrlando Bloom
Who knew baby-faced Orlando Bloom had a rebellious bad boy side? The cute actor has two tattoos adorning his body: a sun symbol on his stomach and the Elvish (as in elves, not Elvis) word for nine on his right forearm.
Wait a minute. Elvish? That's a bit more Dungeons & Dragons dorky than bad boy sexy, but according to CelebSpin.com, Orlando's nerdy tat does have personal significance. Apparently the symbol represents the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring of "Lord of The Rings" fame, and Orlando and his LOTR co-stars (including Sean Bean, Sean Astin, and Dominic Monaghan) each got the tattoo to remember the experience.
When you consider that they could have had Frodo inked onto their skin, suddenly a fictional language doesn't seem so bad.
Travis Barker's TattoosTravis Barker
Blink 182/+44 drummer Travis Barker boasts more ink than a Bic factory. His entire body is covered in tats, and according to Wikipedia the fixation has cost him more than $30,000. On the other hand, it did score him a career as a rock star.
Says Travis, "I tattooed my body so I couldn't fall back on anything. I purposely did that so I couldn't get a normal job and live a normal life. I did it so I had to play music."
While an explanation of each of his tattoos would turn into an epic to rival "War and Peace," Travis did provide some background info to PunkDisasters.com.
"My first tattoo was the word "Bones" on my leg," he said. "I got it when I was 17, because it was my nickname when I was a kid.... I have a sacred heart from when I was 19, because I was brought up Catholic. I also have a microphone, dice, and Jesus. I figured if I tattooed Jesus on me, good things would happen, or maybe he'd have my back or something. ... My right arm is like my good luck arm. It has everything -- a deck of cards, drumsticks, a martini glass, a dollar sign, my lucky number seven, my initials, and a rabbit's foot. I have a devil that was off of Black Label skateboards. I was into skateboarding when I was 22, so I got it. It healed really badly, but I refused to get it touched up. I don't want to touch up any of my stuff. It just looks rad."
Robbie Williams's TattoosRobbie Williams
Looks like British singer Robbie Williams spends more time at the tattoo parlor than the recording studio, but like Melanie C. he's come to regret getting inked.
According to Softpedia.com, Robbie has said, "I do like getting them done but I wish it was like an Etch-a-Sketch where I can wipe them all out and start again. It would be nice to have a pure, clean body again."
Currently, ol' Robbie's anything but clean. According to CoolTattooFinder.com, his tattoos include large Maori tribal designs, an angel, hearts, a lion's head. "Elvis grant me serenity," "Born to be mild," "All you need is love," "I love u mother," a Celtic cross, "Chacun a son gout" (the French saying for "each to his or her own tastes," which is draped around his neck), and the word "love" spelled out on his fingers.
Jodie Marsh's TattoosJodie Marsh
If British celebutart Jodie Marsh dislikes her new tattoo of a pointy devil's tail peeking out of her butt crack, she has only herself to blame. After all, she is the one who agreed to let the readers of Bizarre Magazine (click here to see a video of Jodie getting inked) vote on what tattoo she should get. We're just glad that suggestions like "third nipple," "sperm with a perm," and "permanent snot drip" were rejected.
Still, Jodie's not one to have regrets. On her blog she wrote, "My devil's tail tattoo has healed very nicely and I actually really like it now."
Tommy Lee's TattoosTommy Lee
What is it with Tommy Lee and tattoos? In addition to having a bazillion tats (including a leopard, skulls, stars, and a lip imprint from former girlfriend Mayte Garcia), Tommy Lee gave ex-wife Pamela Anderson Hepatitis C after she shared a tattoo needle with him; Anderson also had Tommy's name tattooed on her finger in lieu of a wedding ring, which she later altered to say "Mommy."
Still, considering his rocky relationship with tattoos, the rocker still loves them. He even admitted to Blender that if his young sons asked to get tattoos, he'd be cool with it.
"I got tattooed when I was 17," he told the magazine. "I didn't really ask. So if they were to ask, at no matter what age, I wouldn't say no. How could I? Hopefully by the time they're asking...they'll be old enough."
Let's just hope the kiddos don't share his needle.
Halle Berry's TattooHalle Berry
When Halle Berry divorced from ballplayer hubby David Justice, she didn't just have a broken heart to heal. She also had a rather unfortunate tattoo of his name on her butt cheek to deal with. The actress has told UK Cosmopolitan that the tattoo is her biggest regret.
So how did Halle cover up David? "I thought about it for a long time," she told Ebony, "because I wanted my new tattoo to be reflective of where I've been, where I'm going, who I want to be. That's why I chose a sunflower. A sunflower opens and closes. Sunflowers go through the dark times and the bright times and through it all they always reach for the sky. I think that's what my life is going to be about. I don't expect things to always be sunny. Sometimes I am going to have to weather the storms. Sometimes I'm going to have to close up and go inward and deal with whatever is happening. But I know that the sun is always going to come out and when it does, like the sunflower, I'll open again and continue to grow."
Post comments as:
EEEyyyooowch! A little
By dstephie - Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 13:17EEEyyyooowch! A little tattoo here and there is no prob but all over your body and not that artistic either? If the tattoo looks really good then i'd understand.