All Of Demi Lovato's Tattoos Explained

Most of singer Demi Lovato's tattoos mean something significant to her. Yes, she is a confirmed tattoo aficionado and has been collecting tattoos since she was just a teenager to mark milestones in her life. Whether it's pieces that remind her of her inner strength or a portrait to commemorate one of her family members, Lovato's ink provides a road map of the important people and experiences in her life. And our girl has been through a lot!

And Lovato is presumably just one of many celebs that's made getting inked more popular than ever. After all, it used to be that getting tattooed was a taboo activity in the United States, something that mainstream society generally frowned upon, as noted in an article in HuffPost. But that's no longer the case, as now one out of every five Americans has at least one tattoo.

So what are the specific stories behind every one of Lovato's many tattoos? How did she decide what to get and who did she trust to execute her visions? Read on to discover the true meaning of all of Demi Lovato's ink.

On July 24, 2018, Demi Lovato had the scare of a lifetime when she overdosed on drugs and nearly passed away, as reported by CNN. This was after she relapsed after a long period of sobriety and a lifelong struggle with drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, Lovato survived and was able to get the help that she so desperately needed.

Once she had recovered and was comfortable returning to the public eye, Lovato resumed sharing her tattoo journey with the world. The first tattoo snap she shared of new ink featured the word "me" forever emblazoned on the ring finger of her left hand, adjacent to a smiley face tattoo on her pinkie finger. "Me first," she wrote in the caption, followed by black heart emojis. This particular one of Demi Lovato's tattoos forever reminds her that you have to love yourself first and foremost in order to be healthy.

Lovato also tagged the Los Angeles-based tattoo artist Daniel Winter in the caption and thanked him for manifesting her vision.

Demi Lovato may have a bunch of tattoos now, but what was the very first tattoo that she ever got? "I have a side piece that says 'You Make Me Beautiful' and it's a song by Bethany Dillon," she shared in an interview with Hollywood Life. "The words were so encouraging and lifted me through a really dark time in my life." Demi Lovato's tattoo has a religious significance for her, as she said she was inspired by her Christian faith.

However, Lovato admits that she was only 16 years old when she got the piece, meaning that she most definitely went underground to get it done. "I got it in some tattoo artist's apartment," she revealed to iHeartRadio. "It was so sketch, it was in L.A., but I wanted to get tattooed so bad." It sounds like Lovato was indulging in a little bit of rebellion, huh?

Lovato later added a dreamcatcher to enhance the original tattoo, according to her Instagram and Snapchat stories (via Entertainment Tonight). We're guessing the tattoo artist behind it doesn't mind dreamcatchers, though they're one of the tattoos that many tattoo artists hate to do.

In early 2020, Demi Lovato had two extremely high-profile performances: She debuted the song "Anyone" at the 2020 Grammy Awards, and she sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl. In order to be prepared for these huge events, Lovato kept a very low profile on social media — understandably so!

But during that time she also got a new tattoo, courtesy of artist Alessandro Capozzi, who helped Lovato figure out exactly what to get. "I told him about my life and where I was at in that moment," she explained in a post on her Instagram page. "We created a combination [of] images that best symbolized the spiritual awakening I was having."

The result is a stunning addition to Demi Lovato's tattoos, placed on her upper back and steeped in spiritual imagery. "Having a fallen angel being lifted by 3, pure, angelic doves (the Holy trinity) as her inner light is being guided by a higher consciousness, and the disintegration of her dark wings was representing the darkness I was shedding," she continued.

When it comes to expressing her faith via her body art, Demi Lovato's back and side pieces aren't the only tattoos that honor her Christian faith. For one, she has a bold yet simple cross inked in black on her right hand. She also has the word "faith" tattooed in cursive on her right arm, adjacent to her elbow.

But the so-called favorites of Demi Lovato's tattoos (as of 2013, that is) are her faith-inspired tattoos that she has on both of her feet, which complement one another. "I have one on one foot, 'let go and,' [and] the other one says 'let God.' It's just, kind of, one of my favorite life mottoes," she revealed to Hollywire. She noted that sometimes she has to just trust in her god when she's not sure of what's happening in her life or when it becomes too difficult.

As to whether or not that's still her favorite religious tattoo, that remains to be seen, especially in light of her inspired fallen angel.

In addition to showcasing her faith in her tattoo choices, Demi Lovato also commemorates her family members with her body art. So if you wondered who the person tattooed on her left arm is, wonder no longer: It's her great-grandmother. "This is for you Mimaw," she proclaimed in a post on her Instagram page. According to her Instagram caption, she was 26 years old when she got the image of her grandmother when she was 26.

Additionally, if you were curious about the three bars on Lovato's left wrist, that's also for a family member. "That tattoo is for my father," she shared in an interview with Deezer. "It's the number three, and actually, that was kind of our number because we were huge fans of Dale Earnhardt and NASCAR. So, I think it's not only my most redneck tattoo but one of the most meaningful as well."

Finally, if you've ever seen Demi Lovato's tattoo of a series of roman numerals on her side, we cracked that mystery too. "Those numbers are my family's birthdays," she continued. She explained that the numbers correspond to the birthdays of her Aunt Lisa, her sisters Madison and Dallas, her stepfather, and her mother.

When Demi Lovato was starting on her tattoo journey, she was a bit more impulsive about things. To that end, when she was intoxicated one evening on a tour bus, she had a pair of lips tattooed on her wrist — but in the light of day, Lovato thought they resembled another body part. Um, oops?

This one of Demi Lovato's tattoos was later covered with a rose — which the singer finds beautiful because of the manner in which they grow — in order to conceal the infamous lips. Unfortunately, that sparked ire from the original tattoo artist (Ashley McMullen), who took to social media to vent. "Thanks for getting the tattoo covered up I did for free that you specifically asked for," she complained in a post on her Instagram page (via People). "Not to mention you didn't even have the courtesy to offer me any money in the first place."

Lovato fired back, saying that she was drunk, and perhaps the artist shouldn't have tattooed her in that state. Honestly? She's right about that one.

Some of Demi Lovato's tattoos that she has on her body are there to remind her that she's a fighter. For one, she has a small tattoo on her neck that reads, "Survivor," which the tattoo artist who inked it posted on his Instagram page. "On a real one," he wrote in the caption, followed by both the flexing arm and praying hands emojis.

Additionally, Lovato has the phrase "Now I'm a warrior" tattooed on her left shoulder, which she showed off on Instagram (via the New York Daily News). The piece was inspired by her song "Warrior," which celebrates her victory over a dark opponent who's tried to rob her of her inner light.

Finally, Lovato has the word "stay" on her left wrist and the complementing "strong" on her right wrist. In an interview with Deezer, she explained that those tattoos help her keep fighting through times when she's at her most "fragile," such as when she was in rehab.

Anyone who's embarked on the journey to recovery from substance abuse can tell you that it's not an easy road, as there are often bumps that come along and present challenges. This has certainly been the case for Demi Lovato, who has been open about her struggles with addiction, recovery, and staying clean. Demi Lovato's tattoos have even documented this.

To that end, when Lovato confessed to the world that she had relapsed in her song "Sober" in June of 2018, she followed that up by getting the word "free" tattooed on her right pinky finger. She wasn't alone in the endeavor either, as she posted a picture of it on her Instagram page (via Elite Daily), along with her assistant, security team, and manager's matching ink. "The team that tats together stays together," she wrote in the caption.

While Lovato did overdose shortly afterwards — about a month later — perhaps it was freeing to leave the shame and stigma of addiction behind her. And if anything, she knows she has one heck of a team who's 100 percent on her side.

Six months after Demi Lovato overdosed and nearly lost her life, she decided it was time to celebrate her newfound sobriety. Of course, given that it's Lovato, you know she commemorated the occasion with a tattoo.

In order to manifest her vision, Lovato once again sought the services of tattoo artist Daniel Winter, and she told him what she had in mind. "Demi talked to me for a little about what she wanted, a rose came to her mind and asked me to draw her a unique fine-line tattoo," he explained to Inked magazine. They then decided on a "single stemmed rose." Given that Lovato has said roses are beautiful because of the way they grow, it was likely a natural selection for her.

Clearly Winter was the right person for the job, as his style matches several of Demi Lovato's tattoos. "My aesthetic has always been the finest of lines," he added. "When doing feminine finger tattoos, I tend to lean toward more simple, less is more approach." Because of this finger tattoo, we'd guess that Lovato — and her tattoo artist — understand the real meaning of a rose tattoo, whether or not that was a factor behind their decision.

Have you ever noticed that Demi Lovato has a flock of birds tattooed on her right forearm? Believe it or not, but that piece was done by the famous tattoo artist Kat Von D on the spur of the moment. "I wanted more tattoos and I'd never done anything big, and it was very impulsive of me," Lovato explained in a chat with iHeartRadio. She added, "By the way, people like book Kat way in advance!" Fortunately Lovato had friends with connections, and she was able to get a coveted seat in Von D's chair on the fly. And thus another image was added to Demi Lovato's tattoo collection.

While Lovato initially got the birds because she loves the freedom that they signify, a friend of hers in sober living helped her figure out that she had exactly 12 birds — quite a significant number. "Whoa, I didn't mean to do that," Lovato exclaimed. "But it's like, it was kind of like a God thing, like I worked the 12 steps, so as I got that while I was in Sober Living, apparently it was really meant to be." Sounds like it, Demi!

One of Demi Lovato's tattoos is a portrait of a lion that she has on the back of her right hand, and it's one of the most visible. That piece was done by Keith "Bang Bang" McCurdy, who took to social media to praise Lovato afterwards. "Sometimes the canvas makes the art," he wrote in a post on his Instagram page, referring to Lovato. "Thank you for your trust."

As to what the lion symbolizes, it could very well be a nod to her zodiac sign, as Lovato is a Leo. In any case, given that Lovato also has a song entitled "Lionheart," she clearly has an affinity for the kings and queens of the jungle.

Lovato did catch some heat on social media, however, from people who accused her of copying celebs like Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne, who also have lion tattoos (via Elite Daily) — so she fired back on Twitter. "You can't get a tattoo these days without someone saying you've copied someone or you're 'matching' someone," she wrote in a tweet. "That's not the case folks."

Not all of Demi Lovato's tattoos are steeped in personal meaning, or are even in any way reflective of her personal experiences. "I have a feather behind my ear, and it honestly doesn't mean anything," she confessed in an interview with Hollywood Life. "I just think it's cute." Hey, there's nothing wrong with that! Sometimes you just want to accessorize.

So when asked if there were any tattoos she's considered removing, Lovato said she's pondered it. "I've thought about it before cause I'm like, you know, when I get older I don't know if I'm gonna want to have 'rock and roll' on my middle finger," she revealed on an episode of Live! With Kelly and Michael. "But you know, whatever, I'm young, and I can rock it now."

Lovato also has the word "peace" tattooed on the middle finger of her left hand. If that's deeply significant to her, she hasn't said much about it.

If Lovato does decide to get rid of any of her ink in the future, she should educate herself on everything you need to know about tattoo removal.

In October of 2019, Demi Lovato lost someone close to her who was battling their own substance addiction: actor and model Thomas Trussell III. In the wake of his passing, Lovato took to Instagram to show the world a tattoo that she got to forever honor her friend. "A T for Tommy," she wrote in the caption. "RIP you special angel. Love you forever." She also encouraged anyone battling addiction to get the help that they need.

This wasn't the first time Lovato got a tattoo to remember a soul that was special to her. In 2015, after losing her beloved dog Buddy in a coyote attack, Lovato got the phrase "Buddy was here" tattooed on her foot. She followed that up with a portrait of Buddy just above the text several years later, which she shared in her Instagram story (via Refinery29). Clearly, a couple of Demi Lovato's tattoos help her stay close to the memories she's shared with loved ones she's lost.

Although it's a bit faded, one of Demi Lovato's tattoos is of the continent of Africa on the inside of her right elbow. She got the piece done after spending time in Kenya, which was a transformative experience for her. "I went there for my 21st birthday," she revealed in an interview with iHeartRadio. "I went to Kenya and it was just a very, very inspirational journey that I feel like really had a huge impact on my life." No wonder she decided to immortalize the experience — she said it was the best birthday of her life!

So why is it that Lovato opted to get the entire continent tattooed, instead of just the country? "I would've gotten Kenya, but then people would have been like, 'What's that?'" she explained. "So Africa's a little more distinct."