Miley Cyrus has a massive tattoo collection that seems to grow as the days go by. The "Midnight Sky" singer got her first piece of ink in 2009 at the age of 17, and she hasn't stopped since. Unlike many other celebrities who have their go-to tattooist they visit time and again, Cyrus's tattoos are the work of various artists, and there are some very special meanings behind several of them.
Cyrus's first tattoo ever was the phrase "just breathe" on her rib cage in December 2009, which was reportedly done as a tribute to her close friend Vanessa, who died of cystic fibrosis, and both of her grandfathers, who died of lung cancer.
The "just breathe" tattoo is joined by a moving image dedicated to her late dog, Floyd, who passed away in April 2014, and a naked woman standing in a body of water.
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2Miley Cyrus's Tattoos: Smiley-Face Tattoo
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In 2014, Cyrus and her best friend, Cheyne Thomas, gave each other matching smiley-face tattoos.
The singer has a tattoo of the word "LOVE" on the inside of her right ear that she got in 2010. She opened up about why she got it done in an interview with E! News.
"There's so much negativity in the world and what you only need to hear is all the love," she said. "People try to say to me, 'I just heard someone say this or that about you,' and I just ignore it because it's irrelevant. Love is what makes the world go around, and that's all we need to focus on."
Cyrus's right hand has nine tiny tattoos, total. That includes the heart on her pinky finger, which is a matching tattoo that she got with her mum, Tish Cyrus.
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5Miley Cyrus's Tattoos: Tattoo of Her Grandmother
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In addition to an animal tooth, roman numerals, an anatomically correct heart, and the words "I'm in your corner" with Johnny Cash's signature, her right arm is home to a portrait of her grandmother.
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6Miley Cyrus's Tattoos: Dream-Catcher Tattoo
Image Source: Getty / James Devaney
In February 2011 at the age of 18, the singer got the image of a dream catcher tattooed on the right side of her torso, which represents her four brothers and sisters.
Back in 2012, Cyrus and her then-boyfriend, Liam Hemsworth, got coordinating tattoos on their left arms of quotes from Theodore Roosevelt.
The singer had hers done in July of that year and chose an excerpt from the former president's legendary "Citizenship in a Republic" speech: "So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
A few months later, Hemsworth picked a line from the same speech that reads, "If he fails, at least fails while daring greatly," which many assume is missing a "he." Oops.
Right above her Pablow tattoo sits a portrait of her beloved Shetland sheepdog, Emu, whom she adopted two months after the unexpected passing of her Alaskan klee kai, Floyd.
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11Miley Cyrus's Tattoos: Mary Jane Tattoo
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On her right forearm sits a portrait of her pitbull, Mary Jane.
Last fall, shortly after her divorce from Liam Hemsworth, Cyrus debuted a rose tattoo on the back of her left arm via Instagram. She shared a black-and-white video of the rose with the caption, "When asked if what you say and do is done with purest intentions and only LOVE inside the heart?"
Cyrus later shared a second video with the caption, "Every. Rose. Has. Its. Thorn."
Days after getting her rose tattoo, the singer added another piece to her collection. She got the number "'92" etched on the back of her neck as a nod to her birth year, 1992.
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15Miley Cyrus's Tattoos: "I'm Proud of You" Tattoo
In December 2019, Cyrus got a tattoo on her left shoulder that reads, "I'm proud of you, Yoko." According to the caption accompanying the photo her tattoo artist, Daniel Winter, posted of it on Instagram, the tattoo is actually a copy of a handwritten note that Yoko Ono once wrote Cyrus.
