From Lady Gaga’s gargantuan monster paw tattoo on her back to Zayn Malik’s intricate Hindu/henna job on his wrist and hand, 2014 saw plenty of interesting new celebrity tattoos, some of which are definitely destined to be candidates for a tattoo cover-up in the future. Then again, there were plenty of pop stars who had some pretty awesome tattoos done this year, and who deserve to be recognized for their superior tattoo designs in a sea of otherwise average ink. So, without further ado, check out our list of the top seven best and worst celebrity tattoos of 2014!
Top 7 Worst Celebrity Tattoos
7. Justin Bieber’s treble clef tat behind his ear – Justin Bieber’s tattoo of a treble clef isn’t the worst tattoo in the world, but the fact that the singer had it inked behind his ear strikes us as a bit odd. It’s reminiscent of Rihanna’s tattoo of a Pisces sign located behind her ear, and Rita Ora’s behind-the-ear tattoos of the letter “R” and a Sagittarius crossbow. In our opinion, the location of Justin’s tattoo is a little feminine, and the treble clef design is definitely boring.
6. Drake’s portrait tattoo of his dad’s mug shot – In February, Drake got a new tattoo on his arm featuring a portrait of his father. Cute, right? Not really, because Drake actually had a terrible relationship with his father growing up, 
and the portrait tattoo was copied off his dad’s mug shot from back in the 70’s, presumably, with dear old dad sporting a bit of an afro, giant tortoise-shell glasses and a pretty impressive mustache. Weird move, Drake. Weird move.
5. Harry Style’s fern tattoos on his hips – When it comes to tattoos, Harry Styles is known more for quantity than quality, but he really upped the ante back in April, when he revealed two giant black fern leaves inked on his hips. One benefit of Harry Styles’ fern tattoo is that the leaf on the singer’s left hip covers up his old “Might as well…” tat, but that’s not much of a trade-off, if you ask us.
4. Lil Wayne’s eyeball and Arabic face tattoos – Oh, Lil Wayne. Will you ever stop trying to shock us with your face tattoos? 
The rapper made the interesting (but not surprising) choice to hit up a tattoo artist named “Spider” in December, and add two new tattoos to his face: a creepy eyeball tat on his chin and an Arabic tattoo above his eyebrow, which was meant to translate to “momma’s boy,” but which reportedly doesn’t mean that at all. Enough said.
3. Chris Brown’s devil face neck tattoo – Chris Brown surprised us all when he had the head of a lion inked on his throat (yes, his throat) back in 2012, but he made an even more surprising move in November, when he covered up the fierce lion tattoo with a super weird tat featuring what looks like a devil face. Unlike most of Chris Brown’s tattoos, which are pretty cool and really well done, his devil neck tattoo looks like it was drawn by a kindergartener, and overall, is pretty terrible.
2. Miley Cyrus’ sad kitty inner lip tat – So many of Miley Cyrus’ tattoos could have made this list, but we narrowed it down to the bizarre “sad kitty” emoji tattoo the singer had inked on the inside of her lip in March. Let’s face it, 2014 as a whole was a weird year for Miley, and her sad kitty inner lip tattoo is just one example of that. Fortunately, it’s inked on the inside of her lip, where it remains hidden (most of the time, at least).
1. Lady Gaga’s monster paw back tattoo – One of the things we love about Lady Gaga is the fact that she shows an incredible amount of support for her fans, whom she calls her “little monsters.” What we aren’t a fan of, is the gigantic rose-colored monster paw tattoo the pop star had inked on her back in October, as a tribute to those fans. Pop stardom may come and go, but Lady Gaga’s bizarre monster paw tattoo is here to stay, unfortunately.
Top 7 Best Celebrity Tattoos
7. Rihanna’s large cross tattoo on her wrist – The large cross tat she had inked on the inside of her wrist back in January definitely isn’t our favorite of Rihanna’s tattoos, but it sure beats the messy tat she has on her hand now that she covered up her traditional Maori tattoo with some henna-style ink. When it comes down to it though, Rihanna knows tattoos, and we’re glad to see the ornate cross tat at least ties into her henna hand ink.
6. Zayn Malik’s Hindu/henna wrist and hand tat – Another fan of henna-style tattoos is One Direction singer Zayn Malik, who went under the needle for a henna flower tattoo on his wrist back in February. Nine months later, Zayn went back in for yet another tattoo, this time extending his wrist tat onto his hand with a cool Hindu tattoo of a custom mandala, which in Sanskrit means “circle.” We love the custom, intricate designs used in Zayn Malik’s tattoos, and we have a feeling these two tats are the beginning of another full sleeve for the pop star!
5. Lily Allen’s map of the world wrist tattoo – Lily Allen isn’t always on our radar when it comes to new tattoos, but the British pop star debuted a pretty cool tattoo on her wrist back in October, featuring an outline of a map of the world. Lily Allen’s wrist tattoo is pretty simple and discreet, but we love how detailed the map outline is, and the fact that the geographical tattoo probably has a pretty important meaning for the singer, who is currently traveling the world on her Sheezus tour.
4. Zelda Williams’ hummingbird tattoo on her hand – Hand and finger tattoos are becoming more and more popular, but we have a special place in our heart for Zelda Williams’ hand tattoo of a hummingbird, which she revealed in October, two months after the passing of her famous father. Zelda’s hummingbird tat is a touching tribute to the late Robin Williams, and will forever serve as a sweet reminder of her beloved dad. As she says, “I’ll always put my hand out to shake with a smile.”
3. Rita Ora’s ballerina tricep tat – Rita Ora has been going under the needle quite a bit lately, but one of our favorites is the super-detailed ballerina tattoo she had inked on her tricep in June. The elegant dancer was free-handed by celebrity tattoo artist Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy, and was inspired by Rita’s close friendship with a gal pal of hers. The pop star accompanied a snap of the ballerina tattoo on Instagram with the caption: “We’re gonna be ballerinas when we’re 102!”
2. Ellie Goulding’s blackbirds collarbone tattoo – Ellie Goulding contributed several songs to the first installment in the Divergent book-to-movie series, and in March, the singer got a cool blackbirds tattoo on her collarbone as a tribute to the movie and to its heroine Tris, who gets the very same tat in the movie. We love Ellie Goulding’s blackbirds tattoo for its simplicity and for the fact that it marks an important professional accomplishment for the singer.
1. Cara Delevingne’s Thai neck tattoo – Some of Cara Delevingne’s tattoos have had us questioning her sanity a bit, like her “Bacon…” foot tattoo for example, but the intricate neck tat she revealed during her sister’s wedding in May had us marveling once again at the British model’s sense of style. The beautiful ink is a Thai tattoo design called “sak yant,” which is believed to bestow protection and good luck on the wearer, and definitely deserves the number one spot on our list of the best celebrity tattoos of 2014!
