Blake Shelton opened up about his biggest regret—a questionable permanent tattoo. After that one memorable mistake, he swore off ink forever.

Blake Shelton may have the voice of an angel, but when it comes to serious decision-making, he’s not the best at it. Two decades ago, the country musician decided to embrace his inner “bad boy” and get tatted. The result? Lifelong regret over a permanent decision and a trauma so bad that it refrained him from getting inked ever again.

Recording artist Blake Shelton | image: DoD News, licensed under CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Apparently, Blake Shelton went to get a tattoo of two pieces of barbed wires wrapping around his left forearm with animal footprints marching in between the two lines. But after taking one good look at it, Shelton declared it “one of the worst mistakes” of his life. Honestly, even we would be a little too scared if our arms looked like a wildlife crime scene.

Blake Shelton reflected on his life’s worst regret—a permanent tattoo

Blake Shelton‘s tattoo on his forearm | image: Instagram/@blakeshelton

Blake Shelton is no stranger to bold moves—from winning hearts on The Voice to entertaining fans with country anthems. But there’s one decision he wishes he could hit the undo button on: his tattoo. Yep, the man who sings about heartbreak and honky-tonks, seems to have gotten his heart broken by his own arm.

According to his discussion with CMT, Blake Shelton reflected on how he thought it would be a great idea to rock a barbed wire tattoo wrapped around his left forearm. Because nothing screams “tough country boy” like barbed wire, right? But then, as he added little animal footprints marching between those wires, it turned into a lifelong regret.

You know they say that tattoos are addictive? I got this tattoo about 20 years ago and decided it was, in the moment, one of the worst mistakes of my life. 

Considering how the result looked like a massive fashion disaster, that’s permanently inked on his body, Blake Shelton claimed to drown in immediate regret. As the tattoo appeared like a crime scene for animals, Shelton realized that it wasn’t just etched on his skin, but it also became “one of the worst mistakes” of his life.

One tattoo was enough for Blake Shelton to never tread that path again 

Blake Shelton performing | image: Instagram/@blakeshelton

While Blake Shelton’s songs are all about life’s lessons, it turns out the biggest lesson he learned is: maybe don’t let your inner bad boy decide on a tattoo. So, after the barbed wire blunder, Shelton admitted that he swore off tattoos. While he initially believed tattoos are supposed to be addictive, the singer noted that one tattoo was enough for him.

Therefore, during the interview, Blake Shelton noted that the regret ran so deep, that it cured him of any future tattoo aspirations. It seems that while most people regret that questionable haircut from middle school, Shelton on the other hand, etched a full-time reminder of his “country tough guy” phase gone wrong. That too on a very visible part of his forearm.

And I’m never doing that again, and I stuck to that. 

Eventually, after Blake Shelton swore off tattoos, the singer stuck to that. And even today, that one barbed wire mistake is reportedly the only tattoo that he has. So, what was supposed to be a cool decision of his life, ended up being a cautionary tale, forever.