Lady Gaga adores her followers, her super-adorable boyfriend Michael Polansky, and, of course, her tattoos. Lady Gaga’s tattoo collection reportedly contains 24 (!!) distinct designs, however she hasn’t officially revealed one since having her massive spine tattoo in February 2019, so she might very well have some hidden gems. (Like, she has to have a Gucci homage on her body someplace, right?) Right??) Fortunately for us, she’s been quite open about the two dozen tattoos she has in her (public) collection, so we know everything about them.
1. Cherub Tattoo
Starting with: the tat you probably didn’t even know she had. Gaga got this gorge cherub done on the back of her neck in front of t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d-s of people at her Fame fragrance launch at the Guggenheim in 2012, because why not? The Renaissance-era angel was selected as “a homage to her Italian roots,” according to tattoo artist Mark Mahoney.
2. “Rio” Tattoo
Gaga’s cherub isn’t the only tattoo on her neck. On the left side, she bears a dedication to Rio de Janeiro, with the I substituted by a cross. “R.O. Monsters, all around the globe, you continue to inspire me every day, you’re like an unending ocean of possibilities,” she said on Twitter after receiving the artwork in 2012. She also sent a tweet explaining how the tattoo was created: “The typeface was created using the signatures of three admirers from various backgrounds and ages. Shows how music brings people together.”
3. Monster Paw Tattoo
Gaga got a gigantic “monster paw” on the left side of her back in 2014 when visiting Hamburg since she loves her fans so much. During a Reddit AMA, Gaga claimed it was her favorite tattoo to date. “It’s the Monster Paw,” she said to a fan who inquired about her favorite tattoo, “because my supporters have lifted their paws high in the audience every night since we became a community.” “It holds special value for me because of the commitment, love, and strength we share. I wanted it permanently imprinted in my mind.”
4. “Mother Monster” Tattoo
And, though it’s difficult to see, she also has the words “Mother Monster” tatted on her ribs with lace details, which she had done in 2014. Gaga received her tattoo in Manchester, but she chose to have it done by LA-based tattoo artist Eric Gonzalez (who also created her monster paw).
5. “Little Monsters” Tattoo
Her “Little Monsters” tattoo rounds off her fan tat collection. In 2010, Gaga got the words “Little Monsters” tattooed in calligraphy near the inside of her left elbow, directly next to her Rainer Maria Rilke quote, as a homage to her admirers (more on that in a sec, promise). She posted a photo of the tattoo on Twitter with the caption, “Look at what I did the other night. On the arm that carries my mic, there are always small creatures.”
6. Rainer Maria Rilke Quote Tattoo
Returning to the Rilke quotation. Gaga had a passage from Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet tattooed on the inside of her left arm in a curling German script while in Japan in 2009. As she explained to Interview, the quotation means: “Confess to yourself in the dead of night that you would die if you were not allowed to write. And ask yourself, must I write? Look deep into your heart, where the answer spreads its roots, and ask yourself, must I write?”
7. “12-18-1974” Tattoo
There’s more, though! The date “12-18-1974” is inscribed in the midst of Gaga’s Rilke quote if you look very attentively. The date is in honor of Gaga’s aunt, Joanne Stefani Germanotta, who died on that day at the age of 19 from lupus (and who, of course, inspired Gaga’s Joanne album).
8. “Joanne” Tattoo
Gaga received a second tattoo in 2016 to remember her late aunt. Gaga got her late aunt’s autograph permanently tattooed on her left forearm after releasing her fifth studio album of the same name. “Got Joanne inked on my arm with her genuine signature,” she captioned a photo of the new tattoo on Instagram. “My father also received one. On the shoulder of an angel.”
9. “Dad” Tattoo
Let’s speak about Gaga’s heart tattoo on her shoulder while we’re on the subject of her father. Gaga tattooed the word “Dad” within a heart in 2009 as a homage to her father, Joe Germanotta, who underwent life-saving open-heart surgery. Cute!!
10. Mouse Tattoo
Oh, and what about that mouse hovering above Gaga’s left elbow? That’s a nod to her younger sister, Natali Germanotta, who was known as “Mouse” as a kid. Natali’s tat depicts a cartoon mouse clutching a sewing needle and thread, a tribute to her previous job as a fashion designer.
11. “Haus” Tattoo
Gaga updated the mouse three years after receiving it in 2016, by putting the word “Haus” above it. The occasion: the Haus of Gaga’s 10-year anniversary (the crew that has helped bring her iconic looks to life for years).
12. “Tokyo Love” Tattoo
Along with their “Haus” tattoos, Gaga and her crew have identical “Toyko Love” tattoos. After collaborating with Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki on a bondage-themed photoshoot in 2009, Gaga got hers on her left shoulder. According to her explanation to Interview, “I was pleased to be the first American woman and only the second pop artist to be shot with Björk. In honor of his marking, he signed the Polaroids ‘Tokyo Love,’ and the Haus got tattoos of it.”
13. Daisies Tattoo
A cluster of three daisies sits just below her “Tokyo Love” tattoo, which, to be honest, makes me yawn. Gaga has never discussed the significance of the daisies, so let’s move on!
14. Sexual Assault Survivor Symbol Tattoo
Gaga has a symbol that looks like a rose on fire next to her daisies and below her “Dad” heart. After co-writing the song “‘Til It Happens to You” for the 2015 documentary The Hunting Ground, she received the award in 2015, and the emblem was made by Jackie Lin, one of the sexual assault survivors who accompanied Gaga onstage at the Oscars. Before the Oscars, about a dozen survivors got the sign tattooed on their body, and Gaga joined them as a gesture of solidarity.
15. Anchor Tattoo
Then there’s her ribcage. See the teeny-tiny anchor beneath her “Mother Monster” tattoo? During her Born This Way tour in 2012, she got that one done in Amsterdam. “New Tat. Stamp of His Mermaid,” she tweeted after showing off her new tattoo. Fans speculated at the time that the anchor was a nod to her then-boyfriend Taylor Kinney, whom she met when he participated in her video for “Yoü And I” (in which she portrayed a mermaid?). She never verified this, though.
16. David Bowie Tattoo
Gaga has a painting of David Bowie below that anchor, which she had painted only one month after his death in 2016. (and just one day before she performed a tribute to Bowie at the 2016 Grammys). She commented on Snapchat, “This was the image that transformed my life,” alluding to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album cover.
17. Roses Tattoo
A bouquet of flowers extends from David Bowie’s lower back to Lady Gaga’s lower back. Gaga had the roses—designed by Kat Von D—in 2008, before she became famous with her debut album, to fit in/cover up another tattoo.
18. Treble Clef Tattoo
If you look closely, you can see Lady Gaga’s first tattoo: a treble clef on her lower back, which she obtained using a fake ID when she was 17…and which her family supposedly did not approve of. When Gaga got her roses done, she stated to Kat Von D, “They had a heart attack when I gave them the first one. Then I had a heart attack from guilt about not informing them I was going to do it. We’re almost there.”
19. Peace Sign Tattoo
Gaga received her second tattoo in 2006, a peace symbol on her left wrist, which was inspired by the late John Lennon. “When I turned 19, I got [a peace sign] tattoo to remind me that if ever I was to gain the attention of the critical mass, even in an exponentially smaller way than John had, that I would commit myself to breeding compassion from my voice,” Gaga said during her acceptance speech for the LennonOno Grant for Peace in 2012.
20. Unicorn Tattoo
Gaga marked the release of her second album, Born This Way, with a unicorn tattoo on her left thigh, along with lyrics from the song “Born This Way.” Gaga stated the tattoo was inspired by her childhood love of My Little Ponies during a radio appearance with the Big Top 40 Show. “I was enamored with the concept of a creature born with something supernatural that made them the odd man out in the horse world,” she explained.
21. “ARTPOP” Tattoo
Gaga also has a tattoo on her wrist that pays homage to her third album, ARTPOP—the tattoo was actually how she disclosed the album’s title. “New ink, new album,” she captioned the tattoo on Instagram in 2012.
22. Trumpet Tattoo
In 2011, Gaga told Rolling Stone that she and her father had agreed that she would only have tats on her left side of the body. In 2014, she broke the promise by getting a trumpet tattooed on the inside of her right arm. Tony Bennett, a friend and Cheek to Cheek colleague, drew the tattoo, which she displayed on Instagram with the comment, “Bennedetto is a fictional character. Tony is a painter.”
23. G-A-G-A Music Notes Tattoo
Gaga’s right side is covered in tattoos, including a trumpet. Gaga tattooed a musical staff on her right arm in 2019 in a matching design with her manager Bobby Campbell…though some fans were *convinced* the tat really spells out B-C-B-C as a nod to her A Star Is Born costar Bradley Cooper. Also, the staff had only four lines at first (mistake), but she soon fixed it by adding a fifth.
24. “La Vie En Rose” Tattoo
Last but not least, Lady Gaga’s tribute to A Star Is Born. A rose with the words “La Vie En Rose” down her spine is a homage to the Edith Piaf song that her character plays at a drag bar in front of Bradley Cooper’s character in the film. It’s also the song that persuaded Bradley to cast her in the first place when she sang it at a fundraiser. Aww.
