Selena Gomez continues to be an inspiration when it comes to significant tattoos, and her latest ink adventure is no exception.
Upon the release of her new album Rare, the singer shared some BTS pics from the title track’s music video. In one shot, you can make out a series of numbers on the back of the singer-songwriter’s upper right arm, seemingly signifying a date in June 2017. As noted by Page Six, the tat represents the date that Gomez had kidney transplant surgery in order to treat the lupus that she was battling at the time.
In a December 2019 interview with Capital FM, the singer confirmed the meaning behind her arm tattoo, revealing that she got the ink along with her good friend, Francia Raisa, who served as the kidney donor for her surgery.
Gomez and Raisa have been open about the process of undergoing surgery together, with both stars speaking candidly about the challenges and ultimate positive outcome of the experience. “I just really hope that we can help somebody,” the 27-year-old said in an October 2017 Today interview. “I don’t think what we went through was easy, I don’t think it was fun. I just hope this inspires people to feel good and to know that there are really good people in the world.”
Given that, it makes sense for Gomez and Francia to want to commemorate their surgery in a permanent way—especially since the singer has a host of other significant tats. She has matching “#1” tattoos with BFF Courtney Barry, along with coordinating arrows with bestie and collaborator, Julia Michaels. She even has matching semicolon tattoos with some of the 13 Reasons Why cast members as a nod to Project Semicolon, an organization dedicated to the prevention of suicide.