We'll let you decide which is which
Jake Polden

12:25 24th July 2014

It used to be just an odd few hardcore rockers who would take the plunge, get a tattoo and sport some on-stage body art, but these days everyone is at it.

Some look absolutely brilliant in their quests to enhance their own persona or image of their band, some look OK at a squint and some look, well, some look absolutely awful.

From Travis Barker and Alex Turner to Die Antwoord's Ninja and Ed Sheeran, here are 17 musicians who have gone under the needle; some sparingly so, some intently and some for reasons unbeknown to anyone, maybe even themselves - enjoy and let us know what you think below. 

 

 

  • 50 Cent: Kicking us off is Queens rapper 50 Cent's massive tattoo of his stage name on his back. I suppose one positive is that should he ever get lost, he wouldn't be too hard to find again.

  • Tommy Lee: The Motley Crue star has never been one to shy away from controversy and his tattoos certainly his persona as he was once infamously caught with a swastika tattooed on his arm.

  • Kerry King: Guitarist from Slayer, Kerry King sports some extremely distinctive tattoos that cover most of his upper body and the back of his head.

  • Travis Barker: Since his teenage years, Travis Barker's tattoos have continued to steadily grow up his body and neck - despite a near-fatal plane crash causing him to need skin grafts on a lot of his body. His most iconic is the boombox on his belly. With barely any visible skin left to cover you wouldn't think there would be any more to come, but, reportedly, Barker would consider a head tattoo, so who knows?

  • Alex Turner: Relatively new to the whole tattoo game, Turner has gained a lot of attention for his homage-to-home white rose of Yorkshire tattoo, since not very subtly showing it off in the video for 'R U Mine?'

  • Ed Sheeran: Effortlessly subverting the bad-boy tag that revolves around the tattoo, Sheeran's ink wouldn't look out of place in Katy Perry's 'California Girls' video.

  • Jamie Foxx: And now on to the eye catching - for want of a better way to put it. Check out the tribal tattoo singer and actor Jamie Foxx got inked into the back of his head.

  • Ninja (Die Antwoord): Real name Waddy Tudor Jones, Ninja from Die Antwoord is a peculiar character to say the least. A self-styled Zef artist from South Africa, Ninja is sporadically peppered in poorly drawn prison tattoos and even features his daughters name '16' on his cheeks. Also, check out his 'Evil Boy' one for a laugh.

  • Anthony Kiedis: Covered in tribal tattoos, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers frontman has them crawling up both arms and has a large and extremely distinctive mural on has back.

  • Eminem: The one and only Marshall Mathers is very well known for his tattoos, in particular the 'D12' his has over both arms, the 'Bonnie and Clyde' mural and, of course, the large portrait of his daughter Hailie Jade.

  • Rihanna: The Barbadian singer has had an increasing amount of tattoos crop up on her body over the last few years. The most notably include a gun, 'Shh' written on her finger, an abstract design on her hand inspired by Indian henna art and the Goddess Isis across her chest.

  • Professor Green: A tattoo that covers the exact place were Green was stabbed a few years before arriving onto the music scene. The tattoo reads 'Lucky' and well, is exactly right.

  • The Game: Are they true gangster tattoos, are they not? Who knows, either way a tattoo on your face is quite a statement. Initially a tear The Game now sports a big Converse star.

  • Lil Wayne: Another musician absolutely peppered in tattoos. Like Travis Barker Lil Wayne, has made the slow progression onto his face - no doubt due to the fact he has run out of room everywhere else.

  • Dappy: And how not to do a face tattoo. Dappy, who has some sporadic tattoos around most of his body, received much media attention of late after getting a hash-tag tattooed onto his face.

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Photo: WENN, SPLASH, Press