Ariana Grande shows off a selection of her 48 tattoos as she flashes arm inkings in sultry selfie

She’s made no secret of her love of tattoos, getting herself inked on at least 51 occasions. 

And Ariana Grande gave fans a glimpse of some of her artwork as she shared a sultry selfie on Sunday, in which she flashed her heavily-decorated arm. 

The singer, 26, has had some designs covered up over the years, and now boasts 48 separate inkings. 

In her stunning selfie, Ariana showed off a selection of her inkings, including two butterflies, Japanese scripture and a portrait of the Pokémon Eevee.

Ariana got her first tattoo – a small heart on her toe – back in 2012, at the age of 19.

She had the inking to commemorate her duet with 8ky, who got a matching tattoo – although their single was never released. 

Ariana waited two years before getting her next tattoo, a quote from her favourite movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, on the back of her neck.

The inking is in French, stating, mille tendresse, which translates to one thousand tendernesses.

Later in the year, she unveiled a tattoo on her ribcage that read Bellissima, meaning really beautiful in Italian.

In April 2015, Ariana announced she had gotten a fourth tattoo, the outline of a crescent moon below her left ear. 

Her best friend and backup dancer Brian Nicholson got a matching inking.  

The following month, fans noticed more tattoos on Ariana. During her Honeymoon tour, she debuted a Honeymoon tattoo on the inside of right-hand middle finger. 

On the other side of her finger is the Hebrew name אלד, which is said to be ‘guarding and protecting’ from ‘the evil eye and from envy.’

In May 2015, Ariana unveiled a small outline of a heart on her right ring finger, similar to her first tattoo. 

Then in June, the singer and her then-boyfriend Ricky Alvarez opted to get matching hi tattoos on their toes. She has since had this inking covered. 

In January 2016, Ariana showed off a babydoll tattoo on the outside of her right-hand middle finger, which is reportedly her grandmother’s nickname for her. 

Then in August, the singer unveiled two new inkings in one day, the initial A on her thumb in honour of best friend Alexa Luria, and the  Venus symbol on her left-hand middle finger.

In March 2018, Ariana got one of her most poignant inkings as she had a bee inked on the back of her ear.

The worker bee was in tribute to the victims of the Manchester Bombings, after a suicide bomber targeted concertgoers at her gig in the city in May 2017. 

The bee is a symbol of Mancunians’ hard work ethic and the city being a hive of activity.  

In May, she unveiled a hand tattoo, reading Lumos, a charm and a light-creation spell that also means light in latin.

Later in the month she got a matching inking with then-fiance Pete Davidson, a cloud shape on her middle finger.  

The Successful hitmaker opted for another tattoo tribute for a friend in July, getting  Court on her knee in honour of friend Courtney Chipolone. 

She debuted another friendship inking later that month, revealing she and her pals, as well as Pete, had H2GKMO, an abbreviation of honest to god knock me out, inked on their hands. 

Days later, it was revealed she had a lightening bolt etched behind her ear, possibly in honour of her favourite book series, Harry Potter. 

Pete then sent her fans into a frenzy when he posted a picture of Ariana showing off an inking on her thigh – but Ariana has never clarified what the tattoo is. 

The photograph also unveiled another tattoo, the word always on her rib cage, in the design of Pete’s handwriting.   

The couple had another matching inking in the form of a reborn tattoo on her left hand, which she has since had covered. 

Higher up on her thumb she has the inking, 561, which is the area code for Boca Raton, Florida, where Ariana grew up. 

Elsewhere in June, Ariana had pete written in cursive on her ring finger, and 8418 on her left foot as a tribute to Pete’s late firefighter father who died in 9/11. She has since had both tattoos covered up. 

In August, Ariana got her biggest tattoo to date, Chihiro, a character from Spirited Away inked on the underside of her right arm.

Ariana covered up one of her past inkings in October, replacing her reborn tattoo with an image of an olive branch.

The following month, Ariana got a new tattoo of a crescent moon and stars on her left foot.

A few days later, she got 9 3/4 – a reference to Harry Potter – on her right index finger. She has since had this tattoo covered.

She then covered up her Pete inking with a new tattoo of a black heart on her ring finger, and also had the same tattoo on the back of her right ear. 

In the music video for Breathin, which was released that month, she had R.E.M etched on her right ear – below her second black heart tattoo – in reference to her single on Sweetener. 

The following month, she had a crescent moon, stars, and a sun on the top of her left hand, and got うたいましょう, on her arm which is Japanese for let’s sing.

Ariana wasted no time kicking off 2019 with some new inking, getting Eevee from Pokemon on her left arm in January. 

Later in the month, Ariana suffered her first tattoo blunder, when she had 七 輪 etched on her left palm.

She had meant for the inking to read 7 Rings, the name of her single, but fans quickly pointed out that it translated to small charcoal grill.

Swiftly afterwards, she fixed by changing the tattoo to 七輪指♡, which roughly translates to seven rings on your fingers.  

Undeterred by the blunder, Ariana was back in the tattooists chair in March, having a tattoo of a branch of leaves on her rib cage to surrounds her always tattoo. 

June proved to be a busy month for Ariana’s tattoo artist, as she kicked off the month by having the 9 3/4 tattoo on her right index finger replaced by an image of a vine. 

Days later she had more inkings etched on her fingers, with another vine on her left pinky finger, one dot on each of her fingers and an eye on her left index finger.

Ariana also covered her black heart tattoo with another indistinguishable marking, got two lines of dots in an arrow formation on her left index finger, and more dots on her left wrist – half of which has since been covered. 

Later in the month, she had The Truman Show quote, ‘in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!’, etched on the back of her neck.

Ariana’s spread in Vogue magazine in July revealed she had covered her hi toe inking with another design, but it could not be made out clearly. 

After taking a couple of months off, the singer was back in chair in November, having her dog’s name Toulouse, tattooed on her left hand, as well as the image of the planet Saturn and two branches of leaves.

She finished off the year by commemorating her Sweetener World Tour, by etching  SWT on her right index finger in December. 

Ariana made headlines not just for her music but her appearance at the 2020 Grammys ceremony in January, when she unveiled a new butterfly inking on her upper left arm. 

And in March, Ariana revealed she had another large butterfly inked alongside it. 

Her most recent tattoo was unveiled earlier this month, when a picture she uploaded showed the inking baby on her upper left arm.