Frank Bello’s tattoos are personal, not a random collection of rock-star flash. The Anthrax bassist has one piece that keeps his younger brother Anthony close, another dark design connected to his son, and a handful of arm shots that fans can actually spot when he plays in a sleeveless vest. The ink is easy to miss in a fast concert photo, so here is what is known and what the pictures really show.
Frank Bello’s confirmed tattoos
The clearest documented tattoo is on Frank’s right upper arm. It is a portrait of his brother Anthony, with the words In Memory of Anthony underneath. Anthony was murdered in the Bronx in 1996, and the tattoo has stayed with Frank as a direct memorial rather than a piece of band branding.
Frank has also spoken about a second design on the other side of his body. In an interview with Glide Magazine, he said the Paul Booth piece represents his inner rage. He described a glowing figure in the design as the thing that calms him, which he connected to his son. That gives the tattoo a much more specific meaning than the usual guesses about heavy-metal imagery.

The Anthony memorial portrait
The Anthony tattoo is the one most people are looking for when they search for Frank Bello tattoos. It sits high on the arm, so it becomes visible when Frank wears a cut-off shirt or raises his bass. The portrait is paired with lettering, making the memorial readable even when the face itself is partly softened by stage light.
That placement also explains why so many older concert shots are frustrating. From a distance, the arm can look bare or the lettering can blend into the shadows. A closer photograph makes the portrait and the script much easier to separate from the background.


The Paul Booth piece and its meaning
Frank has not published a full design breakdown of the Paul Booth tattoo, and the available interview does not give a simple name for every figure in it. What he does explain is the idea behind it: the darker side represents his inner rage, while the glowing element represents the person or feeling that brings him back down. He credited Booth with understanding the concept and designing it in a way that felt right.
That is worth keeping separate from fan speculation. It is fair to call the tattoo dark, surreal and emotionally charged because Frank described it that way. It is not fair to label every shape in a low-resolution concert photo as a demon, skull or Anthrax symbol when he has not said that himself.

How the tattoos look onstage
Frank’s concert photos show why the pieces can seem to change from one picture to the next. Red light, smoke, bass straps and black clothing cover different parts of the arm in almost every shot. Some images show the memorial portrait clearly. Others catch only the outline, the lettering or part of the opposite-arm design.
The tattoo style also sits comfortably with Frank’s stage look. The work is dark and serious, but it is not there just to complete a metal uniform. The memorial portrait is about family, while the Paul Booth design is about anger, control and the people who help him find balance. That contrast is the real story behind the ink.


For readers trying to study the placement, the right upper arm is the easiest place to start. The portrait sits high enough to disappear under a normal sleeve, then comes into view when Frank reaches across the bass or throws an arm up to the crowd. The lettering runs beneath the face, which is why the memorial reads as one complete piece instead of a separate portrait and a random line of script.
The wider photographs are still useful because they show how the tattoos sit with the rest of Frank’s look. His vest, bass strap and wristbands frame the ink without hiding what is on the upper arm. You can compare the clean black-and-white ESP photograph with the warmer festival shots and see the same memorial placement under very different lighting. Those changes in light are why a tattoo can look grey in one image and almost black in another.
What Frank Bello does not have tattooed
One detail from Frank’s interviews is easy to miss. When asked about tattoos, he said he would not get Anthrax lyrics or the band name tattooed on himself. That does not mean the ink has nothing to do with his life in music. It means the most important pieces are tied to family and his private emotional world, not a logo that could change with the next record.
So if you are looking for a single Anthrax tattoo, you may come away disappointed. The documented pieces are more intimate than that. The right-arm portrait is a permanent tribute to Anthony, and the Paul Booth work carries a personal idea about rage and calm. The stage photos add visual proof of the tattoos, but the meaning comes from Frank’s own explanations.
Watch Frank Bello talk about his tattoos and life in Anthrax
Frank’s interviews are the best way to hear the emotion behind the ink. The video below also gives you a better sense of how often the arm pieces appear when he is working onstage.


















































