The Evolution Of Post Malone's Body Tattoos

Post Malone has had quite the career; selling tens of millions of records, picking up multiple American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and Grammy Awards nods, and repeatedly topping both the Hot 100 and Billboard 200. But despite all of his musical achievements, the New York state native has grabbed more attention for his apparent bid to become the world's most tattooed celebrity.

Indeed, the "Sunflower" hitmaker appears to be single-handedly keeping the entire tattoo industry afloat, having inked no less than 70 different designs inked across his six-foot frame since his rise to fame. And with no signs of stopping, expect that figure to reach the centenary mark any time in the near future.

We've already taken a deep dive into the meanings and inspiration behind the tattoos on Malone's face and hands. But what about the rest of his body? From Playboy bunnies and football helmets to cartoon characters and musical icons — not to mention more skeletons than the average graveyard — here's a closer look at the tattoos that cover Malone's body.

Apparently, Canada's best-selling former teen idol, Justin Bieber, is responsible for Post Malone turning his body into an ever-changing work of art. There wasn't a single dot of ink on the New Yorker's body until he got into a conversation with Bieber's tattoo artist during the recording of his 2016 debut album, "Stoney." After some consideration, he decided it was about time to show who was tougher.

Malone subsequently decided to make a Playboy bunny logo on his arm the first of many, many tattoos, for reasons he remains unclear about. But this wouldn't be the last time that Bieber would affect — albeit completely inadvertently — how the "I Like You (A Happier Song)" singer looked for the rest of his life.

Indeed, shortly after getting the monumental tattoo, Malone was playing basketball with Bieber when he was accidentally bumped into by the "What Do You Mean" singer, which interrupted his tattoo's healing process. In an interview with GQ, Malone recalled, "He just messed up the whole thing, but it still looks kinda tight. It looks like magma. Justin did apologize but he's gonna have to buy me a new one."

While Post Malone doesn't appear to have a weighty reason for choosing a Playboy bunny as his very first tattoo, the majority of his body art since has varying degrees of meaning. Take the Dallas Cowboys football helmet underneath his left collarbone, for example. Growing up in Texas, the "Circles" singer is a longtime fan of the NFL franchise. Malone's father worked at the AT&T Stadium as the team's food and beverage assistant director. Malone has since put his name to Cowboys-themed restaurants and clothing lines.

The ink on Malone's right collarbone, however, appears to be a little more random. First, there's a pair of eyeballs made to look like dice, or perhaps it's the other way around. And, just above, there's a sword placed to look as though it's stabbing the artist through his neck. The latter can perhaps be explained by an interview with GQ in which he expressed that "swords are f***ing awesome, and I've always been into them since a little kid."

One of Post Malone's most striking body tattoos is the Christ-like figure that adorns the upper right of his chest. "Here, I have a big zombie Easter Jesus," he explained to GQ in 2020. "Jesus is very handsome, so I figured how could we make him super metal? And so we made him Easter Jesus."

So does this mean the "Congratulations" singer is particularly religious? Well, in an interview with Billboard three years earlier, Malone revealed that he used to be quite fanatical. "But now I see through it," he then added. The chart-topper was particularly scathing of the kind of super churches that his friend Justin Bieber had strongly aligned himself with.

"He's already given them, like, $10 million," Malone said about the "Yummy" singer. "Those are the worst kinds of people. It's nice to support something you believe in, I guess, but people are spending so much money, and God doesn't care that your church has a f***ing gold roof."

Post Malone could never be accused of skipping leg day at the tattoo parlor. He's just as inked underneath his jeans as he is on his torso, arms, and face. And many of his designs stem from his love of animation. Yes, that's Belle and the Beast from the Disney classic "Beauty and the Beast" in full color on Malone's left leg. The "Take What You Want" hitmaker also has his left calf emblazoned with Kagome, a character from Japanese anime "Inuyasha." To her right is another colorful tattoo, this time of the Fallout game franchise's mascot, Vault Boy.

It's not just on his body that Malone has shown his appreciation of cartoons, though. He also contributed to the soundtrack of "Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse," appeared in animated form for the music video of his 2021 Ozzy Osbourne collaboration, "It's A Raid," and headlined a virtual concert themed around the 25th anniversary of Pokémon!

At first glance, you might think that's a McDonald's milkshake etched onto the side of Post Malone's torso. In fact, it's a tattoo of Master Shake, the idiotic and narcissistic leader of Adult Swim's cartoon gang, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Obviously.

Unfortunately for the "Only Wanna Be With You" singer, he had to literally suffer for his art. "That tattoo actually hurt a lot," he explained to GQ, referring to the large talking beverage. "And it's dumb because it's a milkshake, and it hurt the most."

This hasn't been Malone's only affiliation with the subversive network that airs "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." In 2020, for Adult Swim's traditional April Fools' Day prank broadcast, he played beer pong and was superimposed into several of the channel's shows, including "12 oz. Mouse." Sadly, he didn't get to share the screen with the animated cartoon that caused him so much pain via tattoo gun.

While Post Malone largely prefers to let images do all the talking, his vast tattoo collection does contain a handful of text-based designs. But the majority are still open to interpretation, even if you happen to be fluent in Greek and know Greek history.

You will no doubt have seen the phrase "Molon labe" etched across the "I Fall Apart" singer's stomach, written in Greek. It's practically impossible to miss. This phrase is a reference to when Persian ruler Xerxes demanded that Spartan King Leonidas lay his weapons down. "Come and take them" was the defiant response, translated into English. Malone's tattooing of this phrase has been suspected to be a reference to his strong support for the Second Amendment.

Also emblazoned on his midriff — this appears to be the musician's favorite place to spread the word — is the term, "Kill a commie for mommy." This phrase was reportedly first popularized by rock legend Johnny Ramone, stemming from the Cold War.

Post Malone's left arm essentially doubles up as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gallery. That's legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan on his bicep, playing the harmonica to boot. The late rapper Lil Peep also adorns his skin just a little further up, while a huge portrait of country music icon Johnny Cash can be found near his shoulder. Malone also found some space for a depiction of Kurt Cobain shredding on his guitar.

Malone appears to be a particularly big fan of Nirvana, as he also has the name of their 1991 breakthrough album, "Nevermind," on his palm and one of its singles, "Stay Away," above his right eyebrow. The rapper also covered the same track, as well as the likes of "Something in the Way," "Heart Shaped Box," and "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" during a livestreamed tribute concert from his Salt Lake City mansion in 2020.

The "Rockstar" singer told Howard Stern (via Kerrang) that he made sure he got permission from Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, before playing the set: "It's important to me because I loved Kurt so much, and he's been such an inspiration to me, musically. I could never want to offend anybody by trying to show support, so I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay — and it was okay, and we raised money for a good cause, and we got to play some of the most f***ing epic songs ever."

"[Guns are] fun, they're practical, and bad s*** happens," Post Malone once told Rolling Stone. "If you hurt me, I'm gonna hurt you back." And just in case you were still in any doubt about the "Deja Vu" singer's stance on the right to bear arms, then take a look at his array of gun-toting tattoos.

Malone's left arm is inked with a rifle that's wrapped around by a snake. His right arm, meanwhile, bears the logo of Gallenson's Gun Shop, one of his favorite stores in Salt Lake City. On his right shoulder, two large praying hands just happen to be grasping a Glock pistol.

The rapper proudly showed off his very real collection of guns in an interview with Rolling Stone, which included a Walther PPK, Cobalt AR-15, and M14. When asked what prompted him to build up such a vast arsenal, Malone admitted he has a strong interest in everything from conspiracy theories and chemtrails to alternative news, proclaiming that "the world is going to s***" and "something's coming."

Post Malone is so obsessed with skulls that he even has one tattooed on the right side of his very own. Plus, the rest of his heavily inked body is adorned with images of the bony structure in various different forms.

For some reason, the "Go Flex" singer has his throat almost entirely covered by the skull of a bison. Presumably the human variety is emblazoned with a samurai helmet on his inner forearm. Then there's the pirate version, a skull and crossbones, that's inked on the left side of his ribcage. But it's on Malone's legs where the ghoulish theme is taken to another level.

On the star's left thigh, there's a skull sporting police uniform alongside the caption "to serve and protect." "Smoke sum" are the words that accompany the cigarette smoke-covered skull on his right thigh. On his right ankle, there's a metal-armored skull and another sporting a headdress. So what exactly is his fascination? Well, in an interview with Fox News, the New Yorker simply said, "Skeletons are cool."

They say that geeks rule the world. That includes the realm of heavily tattooed rappers, too. Yes, Post Malone might be considered the coolest man in pop by millions across the globe, but judging by several of his tattoos, he's an unashamed nerd at heart.

Just look at the "Lord of the Rings" tattoo Malone has on his right elbow of the series' villain, Sauron. The Tolkien aficionado told GQ why he decided to pay tribute to the antagonist, voiced by Alan Howard and portrayed by Sala Baker in Peter Jackson's trilogy: "He's the coolest character ... He's huge and he has a cool-ass mace. What else do you want from a villain, I guess?" Fair enough. 

That's not the only visible sign of Malone's geekery though. Look at his right foot and you'll notice that it's adorned with the official logo of "Oblivion," the open-world role-playing video game that's part of "The Elder Scrolls" franchise.

Although he was born in upstate New York in 1995, Post Malone moved with his family to the Texas city of Grapevine at the age of 9. And it's clear that the Lone Star State has had a major influence on the artist.

Not only has Malone often sung about the joys of living in Texas — most notably on the 2023 "Austin" album track, "Texas Tea" — but he has covered various parts of his body with things synonymous with his adopted home. There's the smiley skull sporting the Texan red and blue flag, for one thing. Then there's the Dallas Cowboys helmet on his left collarbone and the outline of the state just behind his left ear.

While Malone may be proud of his upbringing, he had to move to California to get his career off the ground as he explained to Fader: "I don't know. I wasn't getting anywhere in Texas at all. I went to school for six months and wasn't feeling the vibe."

Post Malone is nothing if not a good self-promoter. On his left wrist, he had the name of his Posty Co. merchandising brand tattooed for posterity. That's also the name of his 2016 debut album, "Stoney," you can see just under his chin — when he's had a shave that is. And the jagged font on his bicep spells out one of its highlights, "Patient." Malone actually got the latter to commemorate the music video he made for the song.

Unfortunately, the "Patient" video was never actually released. And to make matters worse, it caused Malone more pain than most of his other countless tattoos. "That hurt like a motherf***er," he told GQ in no uncertain terms. Luckily, it seems as though the multiple Grammy Awards nominee would quite happily do it all again if necessary. He added, "I don't think I have any regrets tattoo-wise. It's all a time and a moment."

One of Post Malone's trippiest tattoos is the one that he has of himself on his right arm. "I gotta add the face tattoos to my tattoo, and so it's like tattoo inception," he remarked to GQ. So does this mean the "Ball for Me" hitmaker has paid his own unique tribute to Christopher Nolan's 2010 head-scratcher? Well, not quite. Malone revealed that the inspiration came from a friend named Kyle who took a video game image of a man riding a horse and simply did a face swap.

This might be the only time Malone has himself etched on his body, but it's not the only time he's gone a little equine-themed. Lower down on the same arm, the multiple American Music Award winner opted for another guy — this time looking nothing like himself — riding a horse while stabbing a poor unfortunate soul with a spear. Proving his way with words, Malone told the same magazine that this was "pretty cool."

Post Malone might consider himself a Dallas Cowboys fan, but thanks to an ill-advised bet with Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, it's the names of the two Kansas City Chiefs stars that he has scrawled on his already heavily tattooed arm. While co-hosting a 2024 episode of his podcast "New Heights" with brother Jason, the tight end recalled how he and Mahomes celebrated the Chiefs' victory over the San Francisco 49ers four years earlier by attending a Malone show.

Before the gig started, the pair was invited by the headline act to play a bit of beer pong, with the "Wow." singer promising to get their signatures inked on his body if he lost. Unfortunately for Malone, the sportsmen proved to be just as efficient on the beer pong table as they are on the football field. Fully committing to the bet, the chart-topper subsequently called upon the services of a nearby tattoo artist, as seen in photos obtained by TMZ.

"Man of his word, which I f***ing respect, Post, that's big time stuff," said Kelce on the podcast before revealing that Malone also got the Chiefs logo etched. "I f***ing enjoyed every single time I get to hang out with the guy." In an earlier interview on "The Howard Stern Show," the losing party claimed that becoming a father had put him off his beer pong game, but that he wasn't embarrassed to lose to two professional athletes.