Eight Biggest Celebrity Tattoos Of 2008 (PHOTOS)

Sure tattoos are nothing new and adorn the bodies of many celebrities, but each year certain tattoos make more news than others. Some good, some bad, and some clearly regrettable mistakes.

For example, in 2001 Angelina Jolie revealed a large "Billy Bob" on her upper left arm, above a dragon, in honor of second husband Billy Bob Thorton.

In 2003 former boxing champ Mike Tyson emerged with a large tribal tattoo on the left side of his face.

In 2007 the red carpets were graced with "Transformers" beauty Megan Fox and her Jolie-esque body of work, including sayings on her arms, back and sides.

And in 2008, the below tattoos (here in no particular order) entered the public conscious.

PHOTOS

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Hayden Panettiere got a tattoo that reads “Vivere” meaning ‘to live’ in Italian on her lower left shoulderblade

Comments

[tmddrk]

The thing that I don't like about tattoos is that they are so permanent and unchangeable. Although they represent an emotion or expression, they are so much less complex than the person they represent. It's like substituting a caricature for a personality. Clothes are a form of self-expression but we can wear thousands of different outfits in different combinations that change as our tastes and whims change. Not so with tattoos. So, in essence, they're very limiting. And once you a fed up with a tattoo, too bad! You're stuck with it unless you get laser tattoo removal!

[ack754]

First off, let me ask why you drive that old POS automobile. Oh, you LIKE IT!

Because I need to save some words, my upper body is covered in tats, front, and now rear (on the back...)

ALL of my work is original. Not flash. I do not want to walk around seeing some little weenie with something I have

You don't like it. tuff. Just don't look (or get up in my face.)

I had my last two pieces done a while back.

Why did I do this at fifty-four, I have cancer. Not the good kind either.

The last two pieces I had done was a portrait of my wife and my kid on my right shoulder area, and it took up a large portion of my back.

They say you can't take it with you, and they're right.

But, I can take them with me.

Yeah, I have several tats. I also have no reason to be a bank manager. So, whatever tattoo shows up, not a problem.

Besides, I have had some very interesting conversation with the ladies who have tats that want to share with me. Kind of like you show me yours, I'll show you mine.

Just so you can say you learned something today, the Spanish, in the 1700's, brought "tattooing" back from the Samoan Islands those many years ago. And we, as a whole, have been decorating OUR bodies how we see fit.

sheesh...

Dale

[debi22]

I am going to have my first tattoo... a small heart on my left wrist..nd its a tribute to my fav musician Jeff Buckley...I know I'll never regret it later...

[rrlane]

As Jimmy Buffett put it, tattoos are a "permanent reminder of a temporary feeling."

[DrFelch]

I'm a bit old for tattoos. When I was growing up , there were two reasons one might have a tattoo.
You had either been in the service, OR........
you had been in the big house.
I was really rather surprised when the tat thing rally started to catch fire in the '90's.
I said to myself.... "what are these people thinking? Didn't they see that episode of ""The Bob Newhart show"", where his secretary had to get her "butterfly" removed?"

[Perry Clease]

"I'm a bit old for tattoos. "

I have friend who is 78 years old and she just got her first tattoo. It is a tasteful flower thing on her ankle.

[auramac]

Ugh.

[vinny]

apparently in alaska you can get a tat on your finger???

[Minako]

My step-dad has my mother's initials tattooed on his ring finger. So it's not just Alaska.

[easarsfield]

I'm really amazed at some of the comments on here.

Tattoos are a means of expression. Some are dumb, not well thought out or planned. Others can be quite meaningful and beautiful.

I had a small, roman numeral 11 put on my arm this past june. It is my destiny number in numerology, I had it put on so that every time I look down, I am reminded of why I am here.

[AndThenOneDay]

Say, what's a 'destiny number'. My fiancee's number is 11 (and her birthday is 11/11). thx.

[easarsfield]

I'm not sure the best way to explain it.

you can read about it here:
http://www.astrology-numerology.com/num-expression.html

[auramac]

Why don't you put it on your glasses so you don't have to "look down?"

Then again- you need to be "reminded?"!.....

I rest my case. Idiots get inked.
Great explanation! By the way, how'd you get from zero to eleven?

Sorry. They just disgust me.

[skunky93]

Being disgusted by them is no excuse to speak that way to someone. If you are looking for an excuse to beat someone up because you have issues in your life, why don't you try finding someone who actually gives a crap about your issues.
People can be just as judgmental as you towards YOU for your words and actions, or lack of them.
Don't apologize for saying something you MEANT to say. You meant to be a mean little person to someone else. That is obviously part of your personality, which is more damning than any tattoo.

[easarsfield]

well I have perfect vision, I don't wear glasses :P

and you are entitled to your opinion, but seriously, not everyone who gets inked is an idiot. I suppose you believe Thomas Edison and Queen Victoria were idiots, huh?

I got mine done to remind me that I am here for a specific purpose. It's deep and complicated, and I won't even waste my time trying to explain it to someone with such a narrow mind.

[lizziekw]

I think they're all hideous but that's just me. The kids seem to think they're "cool" or something.

As far as I ever knew tattoos were for members of the armed forces.

[s2164059]

Tattoos are a big trend right now...what happens when they go the way of leg warmers and tapered jeans?

[rowzeer]

Exactly....a friend got one of her husband's name and low and behold they divorced. She also got one of a butterfly on her lower back now that she's older it's not so attractive and she regrets both.

[Vixter]

I was given a tattoo for a wedding present in 1978 - predictably, my Mother freaked but my husband loved it. The main criteria for my tat was that no one could see it unless I wanted to show them. I ended up getting a wild violets around my left breast - with the thought that when I breast fed, the child would be looking at flowers & colors. I never had children, but I am still happy with my tattoo.

BTW, I still feel that getting a tattoo is a personal choice - & I am looking to get another one. This time it will be behind my ear, so that I can occasionally show it off by wearing my hair pulled into a comb. I am still very happy that I got my tat, I'm even happier no one would know unless I decided to show it off.

Don't know why anyone wouldn't think about what that tat will look like when your body ages - as all our bodies do, eventually.

[Pulemerci]

I for one do not have tattoos. Frankly, they creep me out a little. Is it shock value, vanity, ignorance or just plain stupidity? I don't know. It seems that no one thinks ahead on this issue. How will this look in 20 or 30 years? Have it removed? I'm told the procedure is akin to being stung by a thousand bees at once (for many sessions).

[nothingmusic42]

all this hating on tatooes, i love them. but a lot of these tats are crap. i'm a broke-ass headbanger, yet all of my tats are of the best quality, with each-one being carefully chosen and applied by a quality artist. a lot of these tats look like the celebs didn't show-up for the follow-up appoinment. yes, to get a good tatoo, you have to go under the gun at least twice (some of my tats took 3 or more sessions).
these tats are the reason you don't get wasted and then get a tat.

[AliLiz]

Sorry...don't like tatoos...any where...any place...can't understand why people want them...

[tablogloid]

Sure, people are allowed to do anything to their bodies on the outside and the inside but none of these people could get a job in my high end strip club where the rules are:

No smoking
No chewing gum
No lypsynching on stage
You must know how to dance
No tattoos or body art

[vinny]

you wear that "high end" adjective like a badge, don't you? :)

[eveningprim]

hahaha right on- yeah the power over undressed girls seems to go to some people's head-

the most annoying person in the world to me is the self absorbed "high end" owner of -fill in the blank- clubs, restaurants, etc...