Ariana Grande kicks off her Sweetener World Tour tonight (March 18) in Albany, New York, and she marked the occasion in a very Ariana Grande way: with a new tattoo.
After finishing late-night rehearsals, Grande hit up her regular tattoo artist Mira Mariah, a.k.a. @girlknewyork, for the latest addition to her ever-evolving body art. The new leaves on her upper torso surround the “always” tattoo she got during her relationship with Pete Davidson. (He also got a matching one at the time.) Grande insists she’s not trying to cover anything up, though—the “always” tattoo is still totally visible inside one of the new leaves.
“Post run thrus, 3 am with @girlknewyork 🙂 not a cover up just evolvin ? also, our show opens tomorrow,” she wrote on Instagram. “I love u and i’m so grateful. see u soon.” Mariah said of her latest creation, “Middle of the night leaves on the queen. I love you thank you this is all! So! Exciting! Happy tour ???”
Grande has covered up at least some of her Davidson-era ink. A few months ago, she had Myron—the name of Mac Miller’s dog—placed over the tattoo she got of Davidson’s father’s firefighter badge number. She also replaced her “Reborn” tattoo with a feather.
Of course, none of these tattoo stories top when she tried to get “7 Rings” inked on her hand in Japanese kanji, but a mistake made it actually read “tiny barbecue grill.” She promptly had it fixed. “Thanks to my tutor for helping me fix and to @kanenavasard for being a legend. And to my doctor for the lidocaine shots (no joke). RIP tiny charcoal grill. Miss you man. I actually really liked u,” she posted at the time.
Grande’s Sweetener World Tour is expected to run from March to October and will cover both North America and Europe.
