Josh Todd

Josh Todd 2011

By Kevin Nixon_Future_Shutterstock

Buckcherry’s front man has an affinity for colorful ink. His signature “Chaotic” ab tattoo is enough to make heads turn, but the “Crazy Bitch” singer is inked up all the way up to his neck. In fact, he met guitarist Keith Nelson through his tattoo artist and pretty much kickstarted the band thanks to his love of getting tatted up.

His first tat was a poorly sketched Betty Boop on his wrist, which Todd got when he was wasted and has since covered up. His second tattoo, which Todd got when he was “tweaked out on meth and alcohol,” was a shard of glass on his bicep, which he also has since covered up. After the second inebriated inking, Todd admitted that he was forced to look at his decisions, and at that moment he decided, “Maybe I should get a good tattoo artist.”

Oliver Sykes

The Bring Me the Horizon frontman is another rocker known for his love of opulent ink, and he has a very distinctive collection of face and neck tats from over the years. The rich orange flowers that decorate his right temple and the all black stenciled flower sleeve covering his entire right arm are by far some of the most unique tattoos in rock.

Before the all-black sleeve came to be, Oliver said that he started on his first sleeve when he was 18 and pretty much every month would just collect meaningless but distinctive images across his arm. From there, he just did that over his entire body. “When I look at a tattoo it reminds me what I was doing at that point in my life,” he admitted. “I guess I got kinda addicted.”

Ronnie Radke

The hardcore singer-turned-rapper was severely tatted up from a young age. His first tattoo was a poorly drawn microphone on his bicep that had been done by a guy that was “on meth or something,” according to Radke. He’s also gotten full sleeves twice in order to cover up crappy tattoos he’s gotten over the years.

Frank Carter

An established tattoo artist himself, Carter is the lead man of multiple hardcore punk bands including Gallows and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. Known for his evocative live presence on stage, the rocker has been getting tatted since the age of 18, and all of them have as much personality as he does.

He’s got a massive name tattoo on his lower stomach of his wife, as well as her lucky number, which I’m sure is complicated considering they got divorced in 2018. He also has a massive double-headed bald eagle across his chest, and an upside down cross face tat under his left eye. Needless to say, these are only a few of the hundreds of tats the guy has gotten over the years.

Jesse James Rutherford

The Neighbourhood frontman is known for his signature ink. He’s got a third eye tatted right on his throat and a bursting treasure chest on his hand, and a well placed owl on his shoulder. Needless to say, he has some really unique tattoos that he’s collected over the years, but the downside is that he’s known for being relatively aloof in describing their origins. They still look sick though.

Jacoby Shaddix

The Papa Roach rocker takes his job as a rocker very seriously. “Born to Rock” read the big bold letters across his chest, but that’s not his only crazy rock and roll tattoo. He’s got a microphone on his forearm, and “Love Hate” tattooed across his knuckles in honor of The Clash, which is one of his favorite bands. He also is littered with the names of his kids and his wife, and at one point almost got a tattoo of a koala that said “un-Koalafied to party.” But he didn’t, and we wish he did.

Travis Barker

The legendary drummer decided early on to tat himself up so he would be forced to take his music career seriously, and he’s continued to collect them ever since. “I’m actually getting tattoos on top of tattoos,” he told Joe Rogan. He got his first tattoo when he was 15, and got so addicted when he “realized they didn’t hurt.” When he got his backpiece, he claimed to have even fallen asleep. He most recently got “Blessed” under his right eye in cursive, which is a very…bold choice both in real estate and in font.

Mitch Lucker

Say what you want about Suicide Silence and where their career unfortunately ended up, but former frontman Mitch Lucker was one of the most tatted up guys in rock prior to his death in 2012. The deathcore forefather was covered from his legs all the way up to his chin, and some highlights included a massive primate on his right arm and a gargantuan demon owl spreading its wings all across his belly button, as well as a bleeding skull on his chest. His bright tats are all rather gothic and unsettling, but they are captivating as hell to look at.