Machine Gun Kelly is opening up about the inspiration behind the massive tattoo covering his upper body. The “Vampire Diaries” singer shared the story during the September 18 episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”
The impressive tattoo covers MGK’s arms as well as most of his upper torso. “I’ve realized through research that this is from someone who has extremely high anxiety,” the musician explained. “But in my head, it really interested me in redesigning the anatomy.”
He continued, “I’ve already had all tattoos since I was 13, my whole body has been covered for a long time, and I just wanted to redesign what the human skin could look like.” MGK added that he and a friend named Roxx came up with the idea for the ink together.
MGK’s Tattoo Was Extremely Painful
Although MGK’s tattoo is indeed impressive, he shared with Jennifer Hudson that the process was “the worst torture.” When the singer first got the tattoo, he revealed on his Instagram story that it required a total of 44 needles.
But he was not daunted, and underwent the process while wide awake. “I don’t do, like, the going under and numbing and waking up,” he told Hudson. “I don’t do any of that.”
While the tattoo covers most of the musician’s arms, MGK kept one spot free so he could showcase another tattoo his 16-year-old daughter Casie had done for him beforehand. “She did a little tattoo on me, so I kept that on me there,” he said.
MGK’s Daughter Also Has Some Ink
\MGK, 35, has two daughters, Casie Colson Baker, whom he welcomed with his ex Emma Cannon, and Saga Blade Fox-Baker, whom he welcomed in March of 2025 with actor Megan Fox. Saga is still a baby, of course, but Casie is a teenager with tattoos of her own.
Well, at least one that we know of. Just a few days prior to her dad’s appearance on “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” Casie was featured in a post on MGK’s Instagram, flashing her middle finger on which she has a tiny outline of a heart tattooed.
It seems MGK takes his ink seriously, as when he debuted his blackout tattoo on Instagram he captioned the post, “for spiritual purposes only.” Still visible under the new ink were some of his older tattoos, including some red ink that reads “locals only.” It remains to be seen whether his eldest daughter will follow in her dad’s footsteps or keep her ink to a minimum.
