As much as Rita Ora dislikes being compared to fellow pop star Rihanna, it’s hard to look past the fact that the two singers have quite a few things in common, including stunning good looks, a great voice, and more than a couple of nearly identical tattoos. From ancient goddesses to foreign language tattoos, BFF tats, and mantras that give them strength, Rita and Rihanna share a shocking number of tattoos that, if not identical, share some shocking similarities. So the question is, are these inked-up ladies so much alike that they just happen to choose similar tattoo designs and locations time after time, do they draw tattoo inspiration from one another, or is one of them flat-out copying the other? Check out Rihanna and Rita Ora’s tattoos below!
Rita and Rihanna’s Goddess Tattoos
One of Rita Ora’s largest tattoos is an image of the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite, which she has inked on the inside of her left bicep. “This is my favorite,” Rita has said in the past about her large black and white goddess tattoo. “This is Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. I like Greek mythology and she was like my favorite goddess, so I just got her tattooed on me.”
In September 2012, Rihanna showed off her own goddess tattoo – the Egyptian goddess Isis – which she had inked across her ribcage, just below her breasts. Rihanna’s tattoo of the goddess Isis was inked in memory of the singer’s belated grandmother, Dolly, who passed away in July 2012. RiRi revealed her chest tattoo on Instagram, writing: “Goddess Isis – Complete Woman – Model for future generations – #GranGranDolly – always in and on my heart #1love.”
RiRi and Rita’s Finger Tattoos
Rihanna is credited with starting the finger tattoo rage back in 2008, and several tattoo-loving celebrities, including Rita Ora, have jumped on the finger tat bandwagon in the years since. Rihanna’s finger tattoos, which she admits were incredibly painful to have done, include the word “Love” inked on her left-hand middle finger, and “Shhh…” inked on her right-hand index finger. We think Rihanna’s tattoos probably come in pretty handy when trying to get a message across without saying a word.
Rita Ora also sports a few finger tattoos of her own, including the word “Hope” inked in blue on her middle finger, which Rita had done in February 2013, in anticipation of winning an award during the 2013 BRIT Awards. She also has “Love” inked in red on her ring finger and “Promise” inked in black on her pinky finger – all on the singer’s right hand. Like Rihanna’s “Shhh…” tattoo, we think Rita’s pinky “promise” tattoo is pretty cute and clever, if not entirely original.
Matching Astrological Tattoos
In a discreet spot behind her right ear, Rihanna has a small tattoo of a Pisces symbol, which is her astrological sign, and which represents the duality of all things. Rihanna’s Piscecs tattoo design features a stylized black “glyph,” or an H shape in which the two vertical lines bend toward one another in the middle, and bend away from another at the top and bottom.
In the exact same spot behind her left ear, Rita Ora sports her own astrological sign tattoo of the Sagittarius symbol, which features a small crossbow or bow and arrow image. When speaking about her behind-the-ear zodiac tattoo, Rita once said in an interview: “I’m a Sagittarius, a fire sign, so passion drives me.”
Tattoos of their BFF’s Birthdays
Rihanna’s very best friend in the entire world is her manager Melissa Forde, and Rihanna decided in 2008 to celebrate their friendship by getting Melissa’s birthday inked on her left shoulder in Roman numerals. Rumor has it, Melissa returned the favor by getting a matching tattoo of Rihanna’s birthday inked on her own body. Now that’s friendship!
Whether she was inspired by Rihanna’s tattoo or not, Rita Ora also went under the needle and got a tattoo of her best friend’s birthday, but instead of Roman numerals, she chose to mark the date in Hebrew letters on her wrist. Unlike Rihanna’s BFF birthday tattoo, which is inked in black, Rita chose to have her best friend tattoo tribute inked in white.
Shooting for the Stars
One of Rihanna’s most infamous tattoos is the long trail of stars she has inked down her neck and back. She and Chris Brown got matching star tattoos back in 2008, before they called it quits, and RiRi has since added to the design to make it more her own, rather than a matchy-matchy couples tattoo. Rihanna also has a small outline of a star tattoo inked in the top part of her left ear, and the pop star says she got this star tattoo with her best friend from Barbados, while she was visiting New York.
Star tattoos must be a popular symbol of friendship, because Rita Ora and her best friend also opted for matching star tattoos, a design that Rita just recently showed off in a photo shoot, possibly for the first time. Rita Ora’s tattoo of the star outline is inked in a discreet location, just below her waistline, and the pop star has said this about the tat in the past: “I have a star that I got with my best friend and we haven’t removed it because it’s a memory.”
Rita and Rihanna’s Foreign Language Tats
We all know that Rihanna loves her some foreign language tattoos, but apparently so does Rita Ora. Among RiRi’s collection of foreign language tats are a Sanskrit prayer inked on her right hip, an Arabic tattoo on her left ribcage, a French “rebelle fleur” tattoo on the left side of her neck, and a Tibetan “lover” tattoo on her backside.
Like Rihanna, Rita Ora has a thing for tattoos in foreign languages, and the pop star sports several of her own, including a Hindi tattoo of her sister Elena’s name inked in black, and another Hindi tattoo of her brother’s name, Don, inked in purple. If Rita truly is following in the footsteps of Rihanna and her tattoos, she has quite a ways to go before she catches up!
Inspirational Quote Tattoos
One of Rihanna’s more discreet tattoos is a mantra inked in gray on her chest, just above her breast, that reads “Never a failure, always a lesson.” Rihanna’s tattoo is done in a cursive font and is actually written backwards, presumably so she can read it in the mirror each morning when she wakes up. According to RiRi, the mantra represents her “motto in life for everything.”
Rita, too, has quite a few mantra tattoos scattered across her body, including a quote on her ribcage that says, “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none,” which is something her sister, Elena, used to tell her. Rita also has a quote tattoo inked on her hip, just above her waistline, that reads “All’s fair in love and war,” which inspired Rita to record the track “Love and War” on her debut album ORA.
Tattoos are for the Birds
Rihanna raised eyebrows back in 2012, when she revealed an intricate Egyptian falcon tattoo on the inside of her right ankle – inked by tattoo artist Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy – that resembled the shape of a gun. It’s sort of a strange addition to Rihanna’s tattoos, but the falcon tat was actually inspired by a 2,300-year-old faience falcon on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. RiRi’s falcon tat plays double duty though – it covers up the treble clef and music note tat she had inked in the same spot in 2006.
It’s no gun-shaped Egyptian falcon, but Rita Ora also sports a tattoo of a bird, and her tat was also inked by Bang Bang. In May 2013, Rita commissioned the celebrity tattoo artist to ink a large pink dove on the back of her neck and right shoulder. Following her tattoo session, Rita turned the needle on Bang Bang and gave him his very own dove tattoo, boobs and all!
