Lady Gaga's 24 Tattoos Legit All Have Fascinating Backstories

Because Gaga loves her fans so much, she got a giant "monster paw" on the left side of her back while visiting Hamburg in 2014. Gaga later revealed it was her fave tattoo to date during a Reddit AMA. "It's the Monster Paw, the symbol of my fans as they have held their paws high in the crowd every night since we became a community," she told a fan who asked about her favorite tat. "I cherish it for its meaning, the loyalty, devotion, and strength we share. I wanted it engraved on me forever."

Gaga also has the words "Mother Monster" with lace detailing tatted on her ribcage, which she had done in 2014. She got this tat while in Manchester, but she decided to fly in LA-based tattoo artist Eric Gonzalez (who also did her monster paw) to do the honors.

Back to the Rilke quote. While in Japan in 2009, Gaga got a quote from Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet inked on the inside of her left arm in a curling German script. As she told Interview, the quote translates to: "In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?"

But wait, there's more! If you look veeeery closely, you can see the date "12-18-1974" written in the middle of Gaga's Rilke quote. The date honors her aunt, Joanne Stefani Germanotta, who died from lupus on that date at the age of 19 (and obv, this is the same aunt that inspired Gaga's Joanne album).

While we're on the topic of Gaga's dad, let's talk about that heart tattoo on her shoulder. Back in 2009, Gaga inked the word "Dad" inside of a heart as a tribute to her pops, Joe Germanotta, after he had life-saving open-heart surgery. Cute!!

Three years after getting that mouse, Gaga gave it an update in 2016 by adding the word "Haus" above it. The reason: to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Haus of Gaga (the team that's helped bring her signature looks to life for years). It's also the namesake of her beauty brand, Haus Labs.

Along with their "Haus" tattoos, Gaga and her team also have matching tats reading "Toyko Love." Gaga got hers on her left shoulder after collaborating with Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki on a bondage-themed photoshoot in 2009. As she explained to Interview, "I was honored to be the first American woman he's photographed, and only the second pop artist, in the company of Björk. He signed the Polaroids 'Tokyo Love,' and the Haus got tattoos of his marking in celebration."

Right below her "Tokyo Love" tattoo: a cluster of three daisies, which is kind of...yawn, tbh. Gaga has never spoken about the meaning behind the daisies, so moving on!

Next to her daisies and below her "Dad" heart, Gaga has a symbol that looks like a rose on fire. She got that one in 2015 after co-writing the song "'Til It Happens to You" for the 2015 documentary The Hunting Ground, and the symbol was actually designed by one of the sexual assault survivors who joined Gaga onstage at the Oscars, Jackie Lin. About two dozen of the survivors got the symbol tattooed on their bodies before the Oscars, and Gaga joined them as a show of solidarity.

Below that anchor, Gaga has a portrait of David Bowie, which she got done just one month after he passed away in 2016 (and just one day before she performed a tribute to Bowie at the 2016 Grammys). "This was the image that changed my life," she wrote on Snapchat, referring to Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover.

Long before getting her Joanne tattoo, Gaga celebrated her second album, Born This Way, with a unicorn on her left thigh, along with lyrics from her song, "Born This Way." During a radio interview with the Big Top 40 Show, Gaga said the tattoo was inspired by her childhood love of My Little Ponies. "I was obsessed with the idea of a creature that was born with something magical that sort of made them the misfit in the world of the stallion," she said.

Gaga also has an ode to her fourth album, ARTPOP, on her wrist—and, in fact, the tattoo was how she revealed the name of the album. She debuted the tat on Instagram in 2012 with the caption, "New ink new album."