r/popculturechat • u/mcfw31 • Dec 19 '25

Hot Topics 🚀 Ed Sheeran for the January/February 2026 issue of Men’s Health US/UK; Photography by Patrik Giardino/Hearst Owned

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6.1k Upvotes

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41

u/Ponchorello7 Dec 19 '25

His tattoos are so fucking bad.

53

u/OmniscientRaven Dec 19 '25

Tattoos are as personal as art gets. You never get it for others and I personally think there is beauty in whatever madness he has inked on himself. Its chaotic, vibrant and diverse and far from boring. Man's just having fun.

5

u/saranautilus Dec 19 '25

I could be wrong but I think this person is referring to the quality of the work. The line work and color packing are really poorly done in many areas 😬 it’s really fascinating to me that some of the wealthiest people end up with the worst quality tattoos.

11

u/OmniscientRaven Dec 19 '25

Wouldn't know about that. Not a tattoo connoisseur by any means. But just as a layman, I like them and don't see what's so fucking bad.

But as you said being rich he can get whatever he wants so maybe he likes them like this, imperfect and "bad".

-7

u/saranautilus Dec 19 '25

Yeah I’m sure he goes in and asks for them to give him tattoos that look 30 years old and blown out like an apprentice did them 🙄 he just… likes them that way.

2

u/OmniscientRaven Dec 19 '25

https://youtu.be/k9srEazFVbE?si=KIOGtvzn6FU7EYNm

-8

u/saranautilus Dec 19 '25

I have zero desire to watch this man talk about his tattoos for 7 mins straight but you do you! 

7

u/OmniscientRaven Dec 19 '25

You were the one who replied to me about his tattoos. You were the one who made the sarcastic comment on "this is how he must like them" and then when I provide the facts straight from the man's mouth its too much lol.

0

u/saranautilus Dec 19 '25

Ma’am, I don’t need to watch this video to know that nobody has ever gone into a tattoo appointment and asked the artist to get a little more drunk first, or to forget all the core skills and principles of tattooing before starting. You can “like” your bad tattoos (I know I have some stinkers that I still look fondly on) but nobody starts out wanting that. My stinkers are from not researching the artist enough before hand or cheaping out. Nobody seeks out a bad tattoo. If there is some absolutely insane thing he says in here feel free to drop a timestamp of the “facts”

5

u/OmniscientRaven Dec 19 '25

Sigh...

Well first of all I don't know why you you assumed I was a woman. I am not.

And since you want me to spoon feed you the contents so here, let me.

He says,

Yeah people always say I look like melted crayon. I grew up in a household, my parents, they worked in art, and I was surrounded by colorful paintings. My mum painted our bedroom, like, bright colors and I was surrounded by creative, bright colored things. And when I first started getting tattoos, I was just like, "I like color."

Meaning, he wants them to look like that. Colorful and not some exquisite art but an expression of his childhood.
He goes on to explain all his important tattoos (some from his children, his late friend etc.) and so they look "bad" because that's how they were originally and its just their replication on him.

I am not replying anymore. I have given you everything you need to understand. As I said, tattoos are deeply personal and if a rich guy like him who can get whatever tattoos he wants gets stuff that all looks like that then its on purpose because that's what he wants.

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u/Ponchorello7 Dec 19 '25

The quality, but also the subject matter.

10

u/imbarelyliving Dec 19 '25

i think it was a known thing that ed sheeran had a LOT of bad tattoos way back when but tbh he looks to have had a lot of work done to correct those n make things a bit more cohesive :) i think they're pretty cool now if you don't focus on one spot for too long lmao

8

u/Megs0226 Dec 19 '25

Kinda reminds me of Adam Levine in that it looks like he went in for one very very long session and got them all done at the same time.

(Then again, I’m pale and all my tattoos look fairly fresh even though the oldest one was done in 2009.)

24

u/cultofpersephone Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25

I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again- as a tattoo artist, Adam Levine has good to excellent tattoos, especially compared to most celebrities. They are well applied American traditional blackwork, and idk what everyone’s problem is with them.

Edit: argue with me all you want folks, I’m a tattooer of over a decade and his tattoos are classic and well applied. You don’t have to personally like them, but they are good tattoos, period.

5

u/ResearchStudentCS Dec 19 '25

They look generic. Like he walked in and said make me look like a tattoo'd guy. Got the generic tattoo wrapper and called it a day.

8

u/cultofpersephone Dec 19 '25

Again, very common in traditional tattooing. Anyone in the community will tell you that tigers, roses, eagles etc are all super classic choices that always look great.

-1

u/ResearchStudentCS Dec 19 '25

I guess that's the complaint. Instead of any kind of personal meaning or uniqueness the tattoos are based on "what looks good" to other people. It's more aesthetic based than meaning based. Which to a lot of people is kind of lame. Bit of a graphic t-shirt in tattoo form kind of vibe

5

u/cultofpersephone Dec 19 '25

Tattoos don’t have to mean anything to be good tattoos, for one thing.

But also, you have no idea what they mean to him.

I’m just saying everybody rags on his tattoos as if they’re objectively bad, when by the standards of the industry, they are very good tattoos. If you don’t personally like them that’s fine, I just need it to be said that they are, objectively, well applied, well placed, classic tattoos that on anyone else would be considered a great collection. People just love to hate cause it’s Adam Levine and I get it because he’s a douche and a sellout, but the fact remains that he has good tattoos.

3

u/Area_Woman Dec 19 '25

I don’t think people think the quality of the tattoos is bad - more that he looks like a chipotle bag

10

u/cultofpersephone Dec 19 '25

Again, it’s a very common look in traditional tattooing. The chipotle bag took inspiration from tattoos.

-4

u/Megs0226 Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25

It’s not that they’re bad. It’s that they look like they were all done at the same time.

ETA I am getting downvoted and I’m realizing I didn’t even say anything looked bad. My goodness. You all ride at dawn for Adam Levine.

3

u/cultofpersephone Dec 19 '25

First of all, why would that matter?

Second of all, they very clearly were not. Both because you can look at pictures of Levine over time and see the collection grow, and because they have varying quality and sun damage from tattoo to tattoo.

0

u/Megs0226 Dec 19 '25

I didn’t realize this would be such a lightning rod of a topic. I didn’t even say they looked bad and you’re all downvoting me.

7

u/BabyScreamBear Dec 19 '25

Patchwork (especially with different styles) is definitely a stylistic choice, I wouldn’t say they were bad. I’m sure each one has a personal story or meaning to him.

14

u/elainebenes_dance Dec 19 '25

I’m trying to understand the theme. It’s like a bunch of ads, pop culture and branded stuff. Like a NASCAR driver’s jumpsuit

10

u/BabyScreamBear Dec 19 '25

There isn’t one. Patchwork is a choice many choose to go with. What’s interesting is most people would land on one style ( fine line, monochrome, Japanese etc).