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Kelly Clarkson Has Many Tattoos — and Several Have a Special Meaning
Kelly Clarkson revealed the surprising way she memorialized her lyrics on her body through ink.
Kelly Clarkson has no problem expressing herself through art — and she’s got many tattoos to prove it.
Clarkson is no stranger to ink, and it turns out most of the tattoos hold a special place in Clarkson’s heart.
How Many Tattoos Does Kelly Clarkson Have, and What Are They?
Clarkson last confirmed she had 13 tattoos, although she may now have 14.
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The “Breakaway” singer revealed back in 2012 during the Country Music Awards she has 13 tattoos, according to Taste Of Country, although that number could have changed since. Several websites like Distractify report the singer actually has 14 tattoos.
The designs include a snowflake, a four-leaf clover made of hearts, the Roman numerals XXIV (24), the letters “dc," a jigsaw puzzle piece, and more.
“A lot of my tattoos are reminders,” Clarkson told Access Hollywood during a Feb. 2021 interview. “They’re not all struggles, but a lot of them are. I am such a forgiving human…I’m forgiving and loyal to a fault. I forget what happens. And then you just keep letting — you allow the same thing to repeat. So, a lot of mine are like, ‘Don’t do it.’ Like there’s one on my middle finger. I like to believe in the good side of humanity, but it doesn’t always work out.”
Which of Kelly Clarkson's Tattoos Have Deeper Meanings?
Clarkson has the words “Love Them More” as well as a cross on her right wrist — part of her religious upbringing, according to Taste Of Country. She told the outlet “Love Them More” was advice from her favorite preacher growing up.
“He told me at a very young age, you have to love them more, because they weren’t loved enough, and that’s why they’re mean,” Clarkson said. “’Cause there are a lot of mean people in this [music] industry.”
Clarkson’s hit song, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” was also part of the inspiration for one of her tattoos.
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“I got my last tattoo here [in London],” Clarkson told The UK’s Female First in an interview with BBC Radio 1 in June 2012. “It’s on my rib cage, and it’s in Morse code, and it says, ‘What doesn’t kill you.’ I was going to get it on my neck, and then I got there, and I thought it might look cool right under the bra line, so I did that.”
Does Kelly Clarkson's Mother Approve of Her Tattoos?
Clarkson shared more on the history of her first tattoo while 20-year-old Cami Clune from western New York was auditioning on The Voice in 2020.
“I got my first tattoo in Buffalo, New York,” Clarkson said, according to Syracuse.com. “I was on tour, and I was like, ‘My mom’s gonna kill me.’ My body is a temple still, Mom.”
Although she may have been worried about her mother’s reaction to her body art at first, Clarkson has since shared both her mother and sister have ink connected to one of her own. Her mother needed a little convincing, however.
“My sister has a star [tattoo], and I have the moon, and my mom has a sun with a star and a moon in it,” Clarkson told The UK’s Female First in an interview with BBC Radio 1. “My mother is a Southern Baptist, ‘Your body is a temple, do not disgrace it with a tattoo.’ I have no idea how we convinced her. I think she liked having a tattoo with her daughters so it’s kind of cool.”
See more of Clarkson (and her tattoos) during The Kelly Clarkson Show, airing weekdays on NBC.
