Ed Sheeran and his
passion for tattoos

British songwriter and singer Ed Sheeran is known for his musical achievements.

In 2019, Ed reached number three in the ranking of the highest-paid musicians by Forbes magazine. Nowadays, more than 150 million records with Sheeran’s compositions have been sold in the world. He has won numerous music awards, including the Grammy Awards and the Brit Awards. He also loves animals, gives personal names to his guitars, and enjoys playing with the LEGO constructor. The famous singer is also known for his passion for tattoos. All of Ed Sheeran’s tattoos, according to the owner, are associated with pleasant memories or accomplishments. Many of them are made during trips and tours around the world.

Ed Sheeran can compete with other music stars by the number of tattoos - Justin Bieber and Harry Styles.

The musician says that a lot of pop stars do drugs, drink alcohol or get tattoos. Sheeran chose the last in the list. Most body-images are symbolic and carry a semantic meaning. Thus, a copy of a painting by the French painter Henri Matisse appeared on the musician’s body in the form of a picture of a mother and child. The tattoo is in honor of the singer’s mother, a fan of Matisse’s work. By the way, when Sheeran got his first salary, he bought his mother a copy of Matisse’s painting as a gift.

Today, the body of Ed Sheeran covers a large number of multicolored tattoos, the number of which is estimated at 62-100. Most of the tattoos were done by renowned artist Kevin Paul, who also created body art compositions on the bodies of singer Rihanna and musician Harry Stiles. According to the master, Ed spent a total of more than 40 hours in the salon in just one year.

In 2015, the artist got a body-image of a lion on his chest.

The drawing appeared on the musician’s body as a sign of three triumphant concerts that took place at the Wembley Stadium in London. Sold-out performances prompted Ed Sheeran to capture a symbol of significant personal achievement. The colorful tattoo caused mixed fans’ reactions. In response, the musician twitted that it was not Ed Sheeran’s first or last strange tattoo.

However, a little bit later he posted a “tattooless” photo online on Instagram. The signature made fans think that the lion tattoo was a fake. The musician assured fans that he was just joking. As it turned out, it was really a joke. Still, the meaning was different. The lion tattoo turned out to be real. Sheeran only disguised him for another TV show.

The musician got his first tattoo at the age of 18.

A body-image of a black footprint appeared on his left hand. The signature «Without special reasons» explains the background for the appearance of the drawing.

Ed Sheeran’s tattoos are impressive for their variety and lack of common style.

They are bright, expressive and meaningful. The most famous tattoo of the musician:

1. The Heinz ketchup tattoo.
   1. The story of the artwork began in 2012, when the singer posted an eloquent statement on Twitter. The line was saying that no one could be too good for ketchup, only ketchup could be too good for you. Heinz later released a limited portion of ketchup with the artist. The proceeds from the auction were donated to charities.
2. Pokémon tattoo.
   1. Musician Ed Sheeran is so fond of Pokémon that he dedicated the song Celestial and tattooed it on his right hand.
3. Orca tattoo.
   1. The image of the whale is visualized on the hand and is dedicated to the daughter of the artist Lyra, who was born in 2020. The child was conceived when the couple traveled to Antarctica, which was the reason for choosing the sketch.
4. Cat tattoo.
   1. Ed loves cats and cartoons. According to the musician, he watched the cartoon «Shrek» 12 times. It is not by chance that one day his body was decorated with a tattoo of Cat in boots - the character of «Shrek».
5. Dragon Tattoo.
   1. One of the last tattoos on the hand that represents hope.
6. Sleeve tattoo.
   1. On the artist’s hand is a piece of the puzzle, which symbolizes his friends. The drawing is not finished yet. Many fans believe that it will be followed by a piece dedicated to the musician’s wife, Cherry Seaborn.
7. Tattoo on the back.
   1. One of the tattoos is five, interwoven frames. The drawing is made in honor of his wife and future children.

The inscription of Ping in the upper left hand is in honor of the protagonist of his favorite cartoon. Interestingly, a similar tattoo was given by Harry Stiles, who was also fascinated by the story of a small penguin as a child. Musicians tattooed Ping in one day in one salon. The author of unforgettable ballads is not going to stop on the achieved situation. Fans are sure to see a lot of original tattoos by Ed Sheeran.