Selena Gomez Debuts Mysterious New Back Tattoo

Is it a rose, a dreamcatcher, or something else? Selena Gomez's fans are abuzz trying to figure out her new back tattoo after a faraway photo was posted on Instagram. See it for yourself below.

By Emlyn Travis Dec 15, 2021 8:26 PMTags
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Selena Gomez has a new tattoo!

Fans got their first look at the 29-year-old singer's ink on Bang Bang Tattoo's Instagram account on Wednesday, Dec. 15. The post featured a black-and-white photo of Gomez facing a graffitied wall and unveiling a large back tattoo that begins just below her neck and drips down between her shoulder blades. 

Gomez has not shared any updates about the tattoo so far and, due to the distance at which the photo was taken, it is difficult to make out the complete design. 

However, that hasn't stopped her fans from demanding a closer shot of the star's new ink and sharing their hypotheses on what it could be. "Is it a rose?" One fan asked. Another wondered, "Looks like a dream catcher ?" 

This isn't the first time Selena has been tattooed by Keith "Bang Bang" McCurdy. In an April interview with Entertainment Tonight, the high-profile artist—who has tattooed celebrities including Rihanna, Cara Delevigne and Justin Bieber—said he's inked between eight and 10 different tattoos that are "hidden throughout her body." 

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Selena Gomez's Best Looks

That includes her large thigh tattoo, which she debuted at the American Music Awards in 2019. 

"The tattoo is a traditional pair of praying hands with a rosary. She had rehearsals for the AMAs [on Thursday] and she was exhausted so it was a little hard for her to sit but she braved through it," Bang Bang shared with E! News at the time. "They did the tattoo at her house. She had some friends with her and they watched Christmas movies while doing the tattoo. It was just an all around good time. She didn't talk about the meaning or why she wanted the tattoo but she has wanted the piece for for awhile and they finally made it happen." 

She followed up with another one just beneath her ear in January 2020. The short and sweet tattoo says "rare," a reference to her album released that year which she described as "her best album yet" while getting the tattoo. 

"She was excited," Bang Bang said about the piece. "When I did her tattoo of the prayer hands about a month ago, we were listening to her album. And it's nerve-wracking trying to critique your own work before the world sees it, and this time I could tell she was just really happy with it." 

In April, Gomez revealed she had also received a small cross just below her collarbone from the artist.  

Selena's latest ink adds to her growing list of tattoos, which range from a music note to a semicolon to the word "sunshine." You can find out more about them all in detail here.