When it comes to celebrity body art, few people have quite as much ink as Travis Barker.
Barker lost his very first tattoo when that area of skin was injured.
“It got burned off in my plane crash.
It doesn’t exist anymore,” he explained toFuse.
“It was my nickname, Bones, written just like the palprota bones.
It had a Dag Nasty symbol right above it.
That’s a hardcore band I really liked.
Still do really like.”
All of histattoosare meaningful to Barker, as he explained in his memoir, “Can I Say?”
(via GQ).
“They’re all memories,” he wrote of his tattoos.
“They’re all experiences I went through.”
Various sources indicate that Barker has well over 100 individual tattoos, and he’s frequently adding more.
He has also had the names of both of his ex-wives tattooed on him.
The tattoo he got for his first wife, Melissa Kennedy, has been covered up.
The one for his second wife, Shanna Moakler, was still etched in his skin as of 2015.
“But many years later 20 years Pops had some tattoos of his own.
My mum passed away when I was 12, so my relationship with him is so important.”
Barker also has his mom’s name, Gloria, on the base of his neck.
He even has his own initials, TLB, on his right forearm.
He later covered that area in a massive tribute to his family that takes up his whole back.
It features portraits of his parents and children.
“It kind of bugged me,” he recalled.
They’re part of the story of my life, but a big back piece is really dope.
There’s also “Barker,” his last name, and “family first.”
That isn’t the only way Barker’s tattoos honor his Catholic upbringing.
Barker also has prayer hands on the left side of his head.
Under his left eye, he has a tattoo that reads “blessed.”
On the top of his head is a full Virgin Mary tattoo, which he got in 2012.
Both of Travis' kids have tattooed him
Travis Barker’s kids also love ink.
It’s like a sketchbook.
Those are the memories that are really priceless," he toldGQ.
The story behind the decision to give them a space on his canvas is just as sweet.
“It all started because Landon wanted a tattoo,” he explained.
“He didn’t understand why he couldn’t.
He was worked up and in tears.
I had to explain that I’d go to jail if you get a tattoo.
So I said ‘Let’s make a deal, you tattoo me.'”
His kids, now teens, are interested in ink too.
Son Landon has been itching for some face tattoos.
“My son’s 14 and he asks me every day,” Barker toldTMZ.
“Yeah, but there’s an obsession with kids and face tattoos now.”
Barker toldGQthat he frequently sees fans copy this tattoo in his honor.
