Miley Cyrus’s Tattoos and Their Meanings

Miley Cyrus has a massive tattoo collection that seems to grow as the days go by. The singer got her first piece of ink in 2009 at the age of 17, and she hasn’t stopped since. Now, after her two Grammy wins at the 2024 award show — in which she performed her hit song “Flowers” and displayed many of her patchwork-like designs — fans both old and new are curious about her collection.

A quick search into her body art will reveal that, unlike many other celebrities who have their go-to tattooist, Cyrus’s tattoos are the work of various artists — but several have some very special meanings behind them. Cyrus got her most recent design back in March of 2020, hinting to fans in an Instagram post that it was inspired by “Dance Me to the End of Love,” a book that visualized Leonard Cohen’s song of the same name with illustrations by Matisse. In the video, the silhouette of a body was etched onto her upper-right arm, and it looked like one of Matisse’s signature works inspired by his affinity for cutouts. Before that, Cyrus got a handwritten note that she received from Yoko Ono traced onto her shoulder (it read: “I’m proud of you, Yoko”), and a cursive-script piece over her knuckles that read “Freedom,” both in December 2019.

There’s plenty more where that came from, too. Read ahead for a brief guide to some of Cyrus’s most meaningful tattoos.