Post Malone’s tattoos are easiest to understand as a record of specific designs rather than one undifferentiated collection. Public interviews and close photographs identify face lettering, swords, portraits, hands, arms, neck work and larger chest pieces. Some explanations come from Malone himself. Other details are reported by tattoo coverage or are simply visible in photographs. This guide keeps those levels separate.

What does Post Malone’s “Always Tired” tattoo mean?

The words “Always Tired” sit beneath Malone’s eyes. In the GQ Taiwan tattoo interview, he connected the phrase with his work schedule and touring life. That is the strongest available explanation because it is attributed to Malone rather than inferred from the lettering. The same interview describes this as the facial tattoo that hurt most, with Malone comparing the sensation to a needle working close to the eye.

The lettering is a good example of why a close photograph matters. At a distance, the face can look like a mass of small marks. In a close view, the two words and their placement are immediately legible. The wording is confirmed. A broader claim about every facial tattoo having the same meaning would not be supported.

The “Stay Away” tattoo above his eyebrow

“Stay Away” is written above Malone’s right eyebrow. GQ Taiwan reports that the wording was inspired by Nirvana’s song of the same name and that Malone chose a script style after noticing Lil Peep’s “Cry Baby” facial tattoo. The report also says the tattoo was decided on spontaneously while Malone was in Montreal with friends, with playing-card imagery above the lettering adding up to 21.

The image also shows how the facial designs sit together. The sword tattoo runs vertically beside the eye, while the script occupies the forehead. These are separate tattoos even though they are often discussed together in photographs. The source supports the Nirvana connection for “Stay Away”; it does not prove that every nearby symbol shares that reference.

The sword tattoo on his face

Malone has a sword beside the script on the side of his face. Business Insider’s catalogue also distinguishes this from a sword on the inside of his arm and another across the collarbone. The face sword is therefore not a shorthand name for every sword in the collection. Its exact private meaning is not established in the sources reviewed here. What can be stated confidently is its position, its long vertical shape and its relationship to the other visible face ink.

Other face, forehead and head tattoos

Malone’s face includes several smaller symbols around the lettering. Business Insider identifies a small Playboy bunny beneath a smiley face and records a later red heart on the upper-left forehead. It also reports barbed wire along the hairline. Malone’s explanation for the barbed wire was practical and aesthetic: he said he thought it looked cool as a trim and joked that he might regret its position if he became bald.

Later photographs also show extensive ink on the side of his head when his hair is cut short, including a skull, spider and succubus imagery. The timing of individual additions matters. A close-up from one period cannot be treated as a complete current inventory because Malone has continued adding work and some designs are hidden by hair.

Post Malone’s finger portrait tattoos

Close images of Malone’s fingers show small portrait tattoos placed across the knuckles and fingers. The available image record identifies portraits of musicians, including John Lennon, Kurt Cobain and Elvis Presley. These are miniature faces, so a distant concert photograph is not enough to identify them reliably. The close detail is useful because it shows that the finger work is portrait based rather than simply a series of generic black marks.

The portraits should not be confused with the larger hand designs. They belong to the same heavily tattooed area, but the scale and subject matter are different. Public sources do not provide a complete authoritative key for every finger portrait, so the identification here is limited to the designs that can be seen clearly in the close-up and described by the source record.

What is on Post Malone’s hands?

One of Malone’s earliest hand tattoos is a Saint Jude image. In the interview quoted by Business Insider, he explained that the design shows Saint Jude lifting his robe to reveal a skeleton. The article also records the words “nevermind” and “whatever” on his palms, attributed to celebrity tattoo artist Jonathan “JonBoy” Valena. Those words are among the more clearly documented artist-linked pieces in the collection.

Business Insider also identifies a small eagle near a Kennedy portrait on Malone’s hand. The eagle’s presence is documented, but its personal meaning has not been confirmed by Malone. That distinction is important: an eagle may carry a familiar cultural association, but the public record does not establish why he chose that particular bird.

The arm portraits and major forearm designs

Malone’s arms carry several of the collection’s largest and most recognisable pieces, including a Kurt Cobain portrait. A Kurt Cobain portrait shows the Nirvana frontman playing guitar. Business Insider places it on Malone’s arm and identifies it as one of the musician portraits among the surrounding work. GQ Taiwan also discusses portraits of Kurt Cobain, Lil Peep and Bob Dylan on the arm near the first Playboy bunny tattoo.

Another forearm design is a minuteman, while a separate piece depicts a knight on horseback stabbing another figure with a spear. Malone described the knight tattoo during the GQ interview, which makes that description stronger than a visual guess. The same source reports that the Sauron tattoo on his forearm was not finished because Malone sometimes stopped when the process became too painful.

The collection also includes a Texas-flag-filled skull near the elbow, a horse representing Malone himself and a small Playboy bunny that he has described as his first tattoo. The bunny was made while he was recording Stoney in 2016. Malone said Justin Bieber damaged it while it was still healing. That story is specific to the first tattoo and should not be extended to the later designs without evidence.

Hand, wrist and arm designs that have a documented connection

Some tattoos have a clear connection to Malone’s work or interests. “Patient,” named after one of his songs, appears on the upper arm. Business Insider identifies the Gallenson’s Gun Shop logo on the inner arm and reports that Malone discussed it in the GQ interview. A snake wrapped around an M16 rifle is also reported as a 2016 tattoo. The public record establishes the design and the gun-related context, but not a single definitive symbolic meaning for every weapon image.

Malone later added Kansas City Chiefs artwork after losing a bet involving Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes. TMZ reporting, as summarized by Business Insider, described signatures from both players and the Chiefs logo on his arm. That is a documented circumstance for that group of tattoos, unlike many online lists that attach meanings without a source.

Neck and chest tattoos

Two eagle tattoos appear on opposite sides of Malone’s neck, one black and one white. Business Insider describes them as framing a cow skull on the neck. Malone has not publicly supplied a confirmed explanation for the eagles, so their placement and appearance are safer facts than any claim about symbolism.

The chest and stomach area contains larger designs. GQ Taiwan describes a zombie version of Easter Jesus extending from the chest toward the stomach, alongside the phrase “come and take it” and a Master Shake character from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Business Insider separately records “Molon Labe,” an ancient Greek phrase commonly translated as “come and take them,” as a stomach tattoo. Malone said the Master Shake tattoo hurt more than the others, but pain is not the same thing as a confirmed meaning.

How Post Malone’s tattoo collection has changed

The timeline is not a simple move from one body area to another. Malone’s first tattoo appeared in 2016, and additions followed quickly across his hands, arms, face, neck, chest, legs and head. Some work is visible only in certain hairstyles or clothing. Some early photographs show a smaller collection, while later close-ups show added lettering, symbols and portraits.

That is why dated evidence matters. A photograph can establish that a tattoo was visible at a particular time, but it cannot by itself prove the date of the appointment or explain a later cover-up. The clearest confirmed statements in this record concern “Always Tired,” “Stay Away,” the barbed-wire hairline tattoo, the first Playboy bunny, the Saint Jude hand piece, the knight, Sauron, Master Shake and the artist-linked hand lettering. The meaning of many other designs remains unknown.

Frequently asked questions

How many tattoos does Post Malone have?

There is no permanent official count. Public coverage has described more than 60 or more than 70 tattoos at different points, but the total changes as Malone adds work and as small or covered pieces are counted differently.

Who tattooed Post Malone?

Jonathan “JonBoy” Valena is linked to the “nevermind” and “whatever” palm lettering. GQ Taiwan also connects work to Ganji, while other individual pieces have been associated with artists including Kyle Hediger, Evan Kim and Lauren Winzer in published coverage. Those names should be attached only to the pieces each source identifies, not to the entire collection.

Are the meanings of all his tattoos known?

No. Some meanings and circumstances are confirmed by Malone or by a source describing his own comments. Many other tattoos are only identifiable by appearance and location. In those cases, unknown is the accurate answer.