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What 19 celebrities looked like before they were covered in tattoos

Justin Bieber says his tattoos took “over a hundred hours of hard work on my body and I wouldn’t take back a single one.”A far cry from his teeny-bopper phase. Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella

He continued, “I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ART AND IVE MAde my body a canvas and it’s SO MUCH FUN,” alongside a shirtless image he shared to Instagram in 2018.

In addition to two complete sleeves and a covered chest, Bieber also has multiple tattoos on his legs and back. According to PopStarTats, he has at least 59 pieces of ink over his body.

 

Lady Gaga has multiple tattoos dedicated to her fans who call themselves Little Monsters.Lady Gaga has at least 21 pieces of body art. Scott Gries and Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The singer has at least 21 tattoos. Among them she has a monster’s paw (an homage to her fans, whom she calls Little Monsters), a Mother Monster tattoo (also for her fans), and the words “Little Monsters.”

Besides honoring her fans, she has a portrait of David Bowie (one of her musical idols), and a trumpet to commemorate her time with iconic singer Tony Bennett — the two collaborated on 2014 album “Cheek to Cheek.”

David Beckham’s body is truly his canvas — he has over 40 tattoos to prove it.David Beckham. BenRadford /Allsport/Getty Images and Instagram/@davidbeckham

The Daily Mail created a graphic to explain what each of Beckham’s 40 tattoos mean. Among them are his Sanskrit tattoo that translates to “Victoria,” two cherubs representing two of his sons Brooklyn and Romeo, “Pretty Lady” for his daughter Harper, and the Jay-Z lyric “Dream big, be unrealistic.”

John Mayer started out with ink-free skin in the early 2000s, but he has since completed a full sleeve … and then some.His sleeve was done in Japan. Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images; Chris McKay/Getty Images

Mayer’s largest and most famous tattoo is the sleeve that adorns his left arm. It was done by well-known Japanese tattoo artist Horimitsu, according to the artist’s Tumblr.

Mayer also has a 77 on his chest — he was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in 1977 — and the words “Life” and “Home” on the backs of his arms.

Rihanna has several envy-worthy tats over her body, but she wasn’t always like that.Rihanna, then and now. Kevin Winter and Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

According to People, Rihanna has at least 25 known tattoos. Some of her most well-known are the goddess Isis on her chest, a little gun just above her rib cage, and a trail of stars on her neck and back. She also reportedly has a matching camouflage shark with rapper (and rumored then-boyfriend) Drake.

Rihanna is credited with putting tattoo artist to the stars, Bang Bang, on the map.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s huge shoulder piece honors his Polynesian heritage.The Rock got his tattoo in Hawaii. Hulton Archive/Getty Images; JOCE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

According to Johnson, his gigantic Polynesian tattoo took 60 hours to complete. He got it done while on a family trip to Hawaii, and took part in a Samoan tradition to have his family’s history drawn on his arm. His cousin joined him as well.

Harry Styles started off with a simple star tattoo, but he has grown his collection extensively over the past 10 years.He’s shed his boy band image. GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images; ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

While he might not look that tatted up, the former One Direction singer has 67 tattoos, according to PopStarTats. However, most of them are very small, and he hasn’t tried to pull them together to form a cohesive sleeve.

Among the best known are the sparrows right below his collarbone, the butterfly on his chest, and a topless mermaid on his left arm. Styles also regularly covers up his tattoos in favor of new ones — he admitted to We Love Pop that “there are some that my friends have done and some that are just awful.”

He also famously got a “Late Late Show with James Corden” tattoo live on the air after losing the game Tattoo Roulette.

Adam Levine is truly covered in tattoos: He has two full sleeves, an entire back piece, and multiple chest and stomach tattoos.Adam Levine’s body is his canvas. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images and Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Levine’s love of tattoos is no joke — a 2016 Instagram post revealed a huge back tattoo that he said was “six months in the making.”

But not all are that serious, like the string of pearls he has around his neck. Levine told Inked Magazine, “I was in Japan and I got this necklace. I’m not sure why I got it — I think I was bored.”

One of Demi Lovato’s first tattoos is her most famous: the words “Stay Strong” written across her wrists in large cursive.Many of her tattoos are in honor of her journey through addiction, self-harm, and mental illness. Scott Gries and Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images

Lovato told iHeartRadio that her “Stay Strong” tattoos were her most meaningful, because she had them done right after getting out of rehab.

“A lot of fans were telling me that and it helped me get through a rough period,” she said. Lovato even named her documentary “Stay Strong” after the mantra.

She has around 20 pieces of ink, including 12 birds on her wrist representing the 12 steps of Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous.

Miley Cyrus has come a long way from her “Hannah Montana” days — now she’s covered in tiny tattoos.Most of her tattoos are small — but there are many of them. Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic/Getty Images; Vijat Mohindra/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

PopStarTats reports that Cyrus has a whopping 55 tattoos, ranging from a little version of Saturn to a large dream catcher.

She also has a jar of Vegemite inked on her, reportedly in honor of ex-husband Liam Hemsworth: The Australian snack is a favorite of the Aussie actor. Only time will tell if she chooses to cover it up.

Miley’s not the only Cyrus sporting some serious ink. Her older brother Trace is completely covered from the neck down.Even though he has some tattoos on the left, it’s nothing compared to today. Scott Gries and Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The “Metro Station” front man is basically a living canvas at this point … but it might not be exactly what he wanted. He tweeted in September 2014 that he was “so sad I ruined my body with all these stupid tattoos.”

Being the supportive little sister that she is, Miley immediately responded and called her brother “the coolest lookin [sic] dude I know.”

Former One Direction member Zayn Malik is another erstwhile boy bander with tattoos in the double digits.Malik was the first member of 1D to get tattooed. YouTube/One Direction VEVO and Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Originally seen as the “bad boy” of the group because he had a tattoo, it’s interesting to see how times have changed. PopStarTats reports that Malik has 62 tattoos, which puts him five behind former bandmate Harry Styles.

Ed Sheeran sports some seriously colorful body art.Sheeran has many interesting tattoos. Samir Hussein/Getty Images and Instagram/@teddysphotos

The “Shape of You” singer has at least 60 tattoos, ranging from gigantic (like the lion’s head he debuted in 2015), to minuscule (a tiny Lego head) to downright confusing. Among the most head-scratch-inducing ink? A bottle of Heinz ketchup, the words “Galway Grill” (his music video co-star Saoirse Ronan purposefully spelled “girl” incorrectly), and a goat.

Paris Jackson has an eclectic mix of tattoos.She’s the daughter of Michael Jackson. Tasos Katopodis and Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

In 2017, when she was 18, Jackson told Rolling Stone she had over 50 tattoos.

Jackson shared on Instagram in 2017 that she “see(s) ink as a way of changing for the better, always improving. they represent strength for me.”

Liam Payne may have fewer tats than most of his former One Direction bandmates, but he still sports a significant amount of ink.Liam Payne. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images; JC Olivera/Getty Images

While, at 22 tattoos, he doesn’t have as many as, say Miley Cyrus or Harry Styles, his pieces are much larger.

Payne almost has a complete sleeve reaching to his fingers, including an eye that reportedly belongs to his ex-girlfriend Cheryl, and the year of his 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 (1993) running down the back of his arm.

Comedian Margaret Cho’s first tattoo was by designer Ed Hardy.Cho is a prolific comedian. Kevin Winter and Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Cho shared with Tattoo.com that her first piece of body art — what she called a “huge back and ribs piece” — was done in 2004 by famed tattoo artist and clothing designer Ed Hardy.

Cho has a number of other unique tattoos, including presidents Washington and Lincoln on her kneecaps and a Medusa head with 13 snakes on her stomach.

One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson has over 30 tattoos scattered across his body, from his ankles to collarbones.He also has a secret tattoo on his behind. Ryan Pierse and Kevin Winter/Getty Images

PopStarTats counts 36 tattoos on Tomlinson’s body. Though he was the last member of One Direction to start getting inked, he wasted no time in catching up. His pieces of body art are a bit similar to Harry Styles’: There’s really no overarching theme — they’re just a bunch of little doodles.

Among his tattoos, Tomlinson has a skateboarding stick figure, a steaming cup of tea, and the word “Oops!” along his left arm. But his biggest tat, the phrase “It Is What It Is” on his chest, isn’t visible unless he’s shirtless.

One of Tyler Posey’s first tattoos was worked into his role on “Teen Wolf.”The two bands on his left arm were a plot on “Teen Wolf.” Tiffany Rose/Getty Images Sean Zanni/Getty Images for Fandom

Posey is covered in tattoos. Despite telling Teen Vogue he “tried not to do too many on my arms because of acting” he has two full sleeves.

While he normally shaves his arms so he can cover up his ink on camera, one of his first tattoos became a plotline on his former show “Teen Wolf.” His character, Scott McCall, decided he wanted to get a tattoo after he kept his word and didn’t talk to his ex-girlfriend all summer.

Posey had gotten the large tattoo without telling showrunner Jeff Davis, and they decided to work it into the show rather than have to cover it up all the time.

Angelina Jolie added multiple large tats to her back.Angelina Jolie. Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Jolie has gotten tatted, removed some ink, and then added even more to her back. Two of the large components on her bank were done by the Thai monk Ajarn Noo Kanpai, and were dedicated to her then-husband Brad Pitt.

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