JoJo’s tattoos read less like a planned sleeve than a record of different points in her life. Music, family, New Hampshire, travel and a favourite line from a poem all have a place in the collection. She has explained the stories behind several designs herself.

There isn’t a complete public inventory. Some tiny designs are easy to spot in close-ups, then disappear in performance photos. Several tattoo catalogues list others with little explanation from JoJo. Her own comments are the best source for a confirmed meaning; photographs show placement and appearance, not what a tattoo means to her.

The music clef on her finger was JoJo’s first tattoo

JoJo says her first tattoo was a small music clef on her finger. At 17, she slipped out of a hotel with a makeup artist she worked with and got it. The choice was an act of teenage independence, not a grand statement about a career she was still building. She came back knowing her mother would object, and her mother made her feelings clear.

Years later, she called tattoos “permanent accessories”. The tiny clef fits that description: visible, but closer to a piece of jewellery than a declaration. It is also a straightforward nod to music, the work she loved.

In tight photos, rings around her finger can make the clef look like jewellery. Listings vary on some small details, but they agree on the basics: this was a music clef, her first tattoo, done when she was a teenager.

Her father’s signature is kept on her wrist

One of the most personal designs in JoJo’s collection is her father’s signature. Before a Los Angeles show, she brought a written statement from him to a tattoo artist, who copied his handwriting onto her wrist. The result keeps the shape of his writing, rather than just his surname.

She has talked about the family name in connection with the tattoo. JoJo is a Levesque; she has said her father was the only boy among his siblings and she was his only child. The signature holds his memory and her concern that the family name might end with her. It is a small tattoo, with a story few designs can match.

A bracelet or sleeve can hide the tattoo. It reappears when JoJo reaches for a microphone, signs her name or works with music. Unlike a portrait, the tattoo does not turn the memorial into a public display; her father’s handwriting keeps it intimate.

Music notes sit among the piercings in her ear

The music notes near her ear sit alongside several piercings. JoJo told iHeartRadio she got them at Shamrock Social Club on Sunset in Los Angeles. In the same interview, she joked that the extra piercings might make her ear “fall off.”

With her hair down, the small notes disappear. When JoJo tucks it back, they show beside the piercings. They are much less prominent than the script on her neck and wrist.

JoJo has described them as music notes; she hasn’t tied them to a particular song or offered a longer explanation. In some portraits, the nearby piercings draw the eye first.

“Live free or die” and Levesque cover the back of her neck

Two lines sit across the back of JoJo’s neck: “Levesque” and “Live Free or Die”. The lower line is New Hampshire’s state motto, a reference to where she grew up. Her surname sits above it, both lines fitted to the curve of her neck.

JoJo once considered “Live Free or Die” for an album title, but dropped it because it felt too intense. The phrase had been on her mind as she thought about home and identity, even if it never became a record title.

JoJo has also connected Levesque to her father and said she worried that the name might not continue through her after marriage. Together, the two lines bring place and family into one small design: New Hampshire below, and her father’s surname above. It also keeps her father’s family name visible.

Her right-hand script and small symbols are easy to miss

A cursive “Truth” appears on JoJo’s right hand, as The FADER noted. She hasn’t discussed every small script mark in depth. The word is clear in photos; beyond that, she hasn’t given a detailed explanation.

Other tattoo lists include arrows, a small shamrock, a turquoise bracelet-style piece and a world map on the underside of her wrist. The map is described as deliberately imperfect and connected to travel and an open outlook, not to a particular country. The mix of script, small symbols and bracelet-like lines gives her hand and wrist a layered look.

Hands are difficult to read in a single photo. Rings, nails and camera angles obscure details; soft focus can make a small mark look floral or leave it impossible to identify. JoJo’s comments explain a design when she has shared its meaning.

The “ever to excel” lettering is a separate piece on her side.

Her tattoo listings also record “ever to excel” in red on the right side of her stomach. JoJo has identified the phrase as a line from Homer’s Iliad, one of her favourite poems. Unlike the clef or neck motto, it is a literary line placed on a part of her body usually covered by clothing.

It is less visible than the neck script and rarely appears in red-carpet photos. The available listings place the red lettering on her right side and trace it to the poem JoJo has named.

JoJo’s wrist collection also includes a Serenity Prayer.

A longer green script associated with the Serenity Prayer wraps around JoJo’s wrist. Several lines follow the arm’s curve, making it a larger piece of writing than the clef or ear notes. Photos often cut off part of the wording.

Public photos and listings identify it as a wrist tattoo of the Serenity Prayer, but they don’t establish when JoJo got it or how she feels about it. The long, curved lines put the text at the centre of the design.

What the photographs can and cannot establish

Interviews and photo catalogues list more than twenty tattoos, though no public list will stay complete: new work may be added, old ink fades, and small designs hide beneath hair, jewellery or clothes. JoJo has personally explained the first finger clef, her father’s signature, the ear notes and the lettering tied to New Hampshire.

Photos still give a useful record of the rest: where a map or small symbol sits, or the colour and placement of a phrase. Their meaning is harder to establish unless JoJo has talked about it.