Katy Perry’s Newest Ink Continues Her Longtime Tattoo Tradition

Katy Perry once lamented that there aren’t “many traditions here in America” as compared to England, so it’s fitting that the pop star has started some of her own. Ever since 2009, she has made a habit of commemorating the end of a tour or residency with a brand new tattoo. That means Perry recently needed fresh ink to gear up for the end of her Play residency, which began its run in Las Vegas in December 2021.

“8 more #PLAY shows left so it’s tour tattoo time!!!!” she wrote in an Instagram story, tagging tattoo artist Liz Kim (@lizlizkimkim). The text overlaid a video of Kim inking the body art on the inside of Perry’s left ring finger. Sharing the “When I’m Gone” singer’s post, Kim wrote, “Screaming crying puking,” in her own story. Meanwhile, her fellow artist Shannon Elliott (@paingardens) captured the session from another angle and wrote that Kim “zapped mother herself last night after the show!!”

It wasn’t just Perry who got the ink. Elliott shared photos of the same mushroom design that they did on various crew members as well, writing, “over 50 shrooms for @katyperry and her crew.” In another story, the artist explained that Perry “does a special tattoo to commemorate every tour or residency.”

The singer’s finger tattoo is the fifth celebrating a specific tour or residency. She got the first, a cartoon strawberry, in 2009 in honor of her debut headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour. Next it was a cartoon peppermint candy for the California Dreams Tour in 2012, a cartoon prism for the Prismatic World Tour in 2015, and then a saturn tattoo for Witness: The Tour in 2018.

“The end of tour tattoo tradition continues with #4 by the gentle precisionist @_dr_woo_,” Perry captioned her Instagram post revealing the saturn tattoo on Aug. 18, 2018. “The planet in the middle is Saturn as this journey has taught me many lessons with a few tears along the way BUT I am happy to report a sense of real resilience as we wrap. I share this insignia with 45 other tour mates and moreover an incredible year of memories with over 100 beautiful & kind humans and a numerous amount of gracious attendees.”

Perry’s tattoo collection goes even further back than her first headlining tour. It started when she was 18 and opted to tattoo “Jesus” on her left wrist. Now she is just shy of 39 and has gotten at least a dozen tattoos, including a lotus flower, a Hello Kitty head, and “XLIX” in honor of her Super Bowl halftime show, among others. More are likely on the way, too, especially given that Perry is looking beyond her residency’s Nov. 4 end date and working on new music that could lead to another tour.