tattoos
Jelly Roll has many tattoos, but one of them is particularly meaningful in how it relates to his life.
While speaking to People Thursday (March 13), the country star opened up about one piece of ink on his arm depicting a broken chain. “It is just about breaking chains in life — anything that is bounding us, any bondage that we have, any addiction, anything we think God can’t get us through,” he explained to the publication. “We can break those chains.”
“I think second chances are earned,” Jelly added. “I think sometimes you can earn them in opportunity — there are opportunities to earn — but I believe that second chances are earned.”
He also revealed that he only got the chain tat after he and collaborators Taylor Phillips and Jackson Dean wrote a song together called “I Can’t Break These Chains.” “We loved the song so much we got the tattoo of the breaking chains that day,” Jelly said. “And we still never put that song out! We should put that song out.”
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The “Son of a Sinner” singer has been open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol. His past also includes being in and out of jail about 40 times. Jelly has said that he knew he wanted to change his life after one particular stay behind bars when he was 23, during which he learned that he had become a father to now 16-year-old daughter Bailee.
In a recent interview on the Smartless podcast, the musician opened up about turning his life around for his child. “I had to go to court,” he said on the show. “I had to get supervised visits through the courtroom … I just had to keep going to the court every six months and going, ‘Look, I’m continuing to prove I’m changing.’ Music, being famous, wasn’t even a thought then. I just wanted to be a good dad.”
The meaningful chain tattoo is just one of countless pieces of artwork on Jelly’s body, which is nearly covered in ink. Some of his most distinguishable body art is on his face, including multiple crosses on his cheeks and near his eyes.
In March 2024, Jelly shared that he regrets “almost all” of the tattoos he’s gotten, and said that he’s done multiple coverups over his least favorites. “I regret 98 percent of these tattoos, 97 percent,” he said at the time. “Like core philosophies I rooted my life in when I was 17 and now that I’m 40, I’m like, ‘What the f–k was I thinking?’”
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Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty / Machine Gun Kelly
Machine Gun Kelly debuted a new look, and people are giving him a blank stare.
It’s a new year and clearly a new MGK. The “rapper,” now a mega-popular rockstar, is prepping his fans for new music and rebooted himself with some fresh ink.
He showed his eight million-plus followers his new body tattoo on Instagram, a complete cover-up with nothing but pure black ink.
In the caption for the post, the “Emo Girl” crafter said his new body tattoo is “for spiritual purposes only” and thanked his tattoo artist @roxx.
In an Instagram Story post, MGK revealed that the artist used “44 needles” while Roxx wrote, “Never met a tougher one,” regarding the musician sitting down getting the epic that done.
The post has received over 600,000 likes, and people are sharing interesting thoughts in the comments. Power Book II: Ghost actor Gianni Paolo had high praise for the tattoo, saying, “insane.”
Even the Tiger King, Joe Exotic, currently serving a 22-year prison sentence, had something to say and shot his shot, writing in the comment section, “A tiger and a bit of meth, and you would be mine. Lol.”
We are sure Machine Gun Kelly’s current fiancee, actress Meagan Fox, is not trying to share her man with Joe Exotic.
Some people in the comment section do not like his tattoo. One commenter said, “Stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
Another person joked, “Bro looking like the adidas logo.”
Where’s the lie?
Welp, the work is done, MGK is happy with it, and that’s all that matters.
You can see more reactions to the tattoo in the gallery below.
2. Well damn
3. Possibly
4. There’s a thought
7. Spits out drink
Machine Gun Kelly’s tattoo collection just got larger. The “Bloody Valentine” rocker took to Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 20) to show off his new ink, a massive blackout tattoo that covers his chest and arms. The negative space on the chest area shows a cross, while his arms create a peek at his previous tattoos. […]
Did a celebrity tattoo artist violate copyright law when she inked a photographer’s portrait of jazz legend Miles Davis onto the arm of a friend? A jury is set to the decide that question in a trial set to kick off Tuesday.
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Photographer Jeffrey B. Sedlik filed his lawsuit back in 2021 against Katherine Von Drachenberg – better known as Kat Von D, a celebrity tattoo artist who rose to prominence in the 2000s on her TLC reality show “fLA Ink.” He claimed she infringed his 1989 image of Davis by using it as the basis for a tattoo.
After years of litigation – and a U.S. Supreme Court case over Andy Warhol that changed the legal landscape midway through – attorneys for Sedlik and Von D will head to a Los Angeles federal courthouse Tuesday for a jury trial that will settle the dispute once and for all.
Sedlik, who calls his photo “world-famous,” has argued that Von D clearly broke the law when she chose to “precisely replicate every aspect of the iconic Miles Davis portrait in the form of a tattoo.” Von D, meanwhile, says she only used the image as a reference and that her tattoo is protected by copyright law’s so-called fair use doctrine, which allows people to re-use protected works in certain situations.
Initially, Judge Dale S. Fischer seemed inclined to side with Von D on a key question: Whether she had “transformed” the photo into something new. In a May 2022 ruling, the judge said Von D had “changed its appearance to create what she characterizes as adding movement and a more melancholy aesthetic.”
But the case got a legal shakeup a year later, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a major ruling on fair use. In that decision, the justices said that the late Andy Warhol had violated a photographer’s copyrights years earlier when he used her images of Prince to create one of his distinctive screen prints – a decision that was widely interpreted as making it harder to prove fair use.
After the Warhol ruling came out, Judge Fischer ruled against Von D on that same key question of “transformative.” Citing the new Supreme Court precedent, the judge ruled that simply putting the same image in a new context and claiming new aesthetics was not enough to count as a fair use.
But even after that ruling, the overall question of fair use must still be decided by the jury at the trial set to kick off Tuesday. Jurors will be tasked with deciding whether Von D made “commercial” use of Sedlik’s image – a tough question, since she inked her friend free-of-charge but also promoted the work on her social media accounts. They must also decide whether her use of the image hurt Sedlik’s ability to license the image himself, another key question in any fair use case.
Dua Lipa and Seth Meyers are ink buddies for life. On her recent visit to Late Night, the 28-year-old pop star and talk-show host got matching tattoos on camera with the help of a little liquid courage. To prep for their permanent body art, the duo first took tequila shots poured down a Barbie Dreamhouse […]
Travis Barker and Alabama Barker had the ultimate father-daughter hangout on Wednesday night (Jan. 3), as the duo got inked up together. The rocker’s 18-year-old daughter took to her Instagram Stories to share a photo of her dad getting his tattoo done. while she sat and waited for her turn. “Tatted together,” Alabama captioned the […]
Lil Uzi Vert has more tattoos than you can count, but there isn’t a single one that brings a smile to the rapper’s face. In a recent interview, LA Weekly asked Uzi, “What’s your favorite tattoo?” The 28-year-old musician’s reply? “None of them.” “I’m trying to get them removed,” they deadpanned. “All of them… I […]
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Travis Barker is the latest celebrity to team up with Inkbox, the temporary tattoo brand known for its authentic-looking, semi-permanent ink.
Long recognized as one of the most influential celebrities in the tattoo world, Barker’s collection is fans’ first (and, realistically, only) chance to get inked by the drummer. Made with cruelty-free ink, the tattoos last one to two weeks, and while they look just like the real thing, they actually require zero commitment.
“Getting inked together creates a bond like no other, that’s what this collection is all about,” Barker said in a press statement. The very personal collection was designed by Barker in collaboration with longtime friend and tattoo artist Chuey Quintanar, with the tattoos telling a story about love, family and loyalty. “We wanted to create pieces that felt authentic to my story, but that would become part of [the fans’] stories as well.”
The 10-piece collection features designs that Barker feels are quintessential to every person’s tattoo experience. Sacred hearts, cherubs, roses and skulls headline the assortment that ranges in size from small and dainty inkwork to extra-large statement pieces.
Barker was initially introduced to Inkbox through his son, Landon Barker, who had been a fan long before the collab was in the works. “My son actually showed me Inkbox tattoos a while back, so to create my own collection from the ground up with Chuey … it’s a real full-circle moment.”
Inkbox
Inkbox
Inkbox
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Inkbox
TRAVIS BARKER x INKBOX has officially launched on Inkbox’s site for fans to explore and get inked easily at home. This collab is the latest for the brand, which has previously worked with BTS, Post Malone, Gorillaz and more.
Check below to see the campaign video for the collaboration.
Doja Cat is debuting some wicked new body art. The 27-year-old rapper took to her Instagram Story on Saturday (Aug. 26) to show off a fresh tattoo of a scythe on the side of her head. In the snapshot, Doja sports a closely shaved head with bleached hair while showing off the freshly inked harvesting […]
Grimes just got some new ink. On Instagram Stories, the musician showed off two fresh tattoos on her ear and leg, the latter of which covers the entirety of her calf and most of her thigh.
Tagging the tattoo artist and thanking them for their work, Grimes first gave followers a look at the blood red design on her leg. Sprawling upwards from her ankle, past her knee and to her mid thigh, the ink looks like a sheath of either delicate plants or a thin skeleton of bones. At the top of the design, the “Oblivion” singer got a red crescent moon stamped a few inches above her knee cap.
“thank u @grimes,” wrote tattoo artist Daniela, captioning more photos of Grimes’ leg on Instagram. “such a pleasure working with u on this piece.”
Grimes also shared a close-up photo of her ear, which now boasts a spiky black design. “Gna get get better pics but thank u @zhenja_tttr for doing my ear !!!” she wrote. “One step closer to face tattoooooo.”
Though the ink takes up most of her right ear, it’s actually not the most major modification to that particular body part that Grimes has expressed wanting to make. In August, the Canada native said on Twitter that she was considering getting surgery to reshape her cartilage into the shape of “elf” ears.
“Especially as a musician this surgery seems risky but I’ve wanted it my whole life,” she tweeted last year, to which her ex partner, billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk, replied, “The downside of elf ear surgery probably outweighs the upside.”
Grimes, who shares two children with Musk, also revealed at the time that she had plans for a full-body tattoo; so perhaps her new leg ink is part of her vision. “I have a full body tattoo in the works!” she tweeted in August. “These next few years will be spent doing al my dream body mods.”
See pictures of her new ink on Grimes’ Story, before they disappear, here. And see the photos the tattoo artist shared below: