The new ink on Shawn Mendes will have you seeing red.
The 23-year-old singer debuted what appeared to be a fresh tattoo on his Instagram March 17. In a carousel of vacation photos, Mendes is seen in one pic appearing shirtless with a red vertical line—resembling a scratch—adorning the back of his neck above his chain necklace. The Canadian musician's new ink also resembles the throat tattoo Machine Gun Kelly debuted in 2021.
Naturally, fans were intrigued. "EVERYONE STOP SHAWN GOT A NEW TATTOO," tweeted one eagle-eyed observer
Another person wrote, "Tell me what this new tattoo means @ShawnMendes."
The subject was also a matter of debate in the comments of the original Instagram post, with one person writing, "Wow Amazing I thought that someone with extremely long nails had scratched it, I made a whole fanfic in my mind lmao Sorry."
Mendes, who also has other tattoos, has not commented on his new ink.
"Shawn mendes tattoos are a work of art," another fan tweeted.
See Mendes' new ink and other unique celebrity tattoos:
Jason Momoa
After shaving off some of his hair, the Aquaman star revealed a new head tattoo in September 2022 that he said has been "20 years in the making."
JoJo Siwa
The "Karma" singer unveiled a bicep tattoo of a teddy bear with angel wings in June 2024. The design was a nod to the cover art of her Guilty Pleasure album.
Elle King
In April 2024, the "Ex's and Oh's" singer debuted a new tattoo—located on her rear—that paid tribute to some very important men in her life.
"I always said I'd get my baby daddys name tattooed on my butt…so I did," Elle, who is the daughter of Rob Schneider, wrote on Instagram. "I got 'brethren' for the men helping me raise my son. I love you guys so much, I wouldn't want to do life without yall."
Grimes
The "Genesis" singer unveiled her large face tattoo in October 2022, sharing that she spent 10 years "emotionally working up" to it.
Travis Barker
The Blink-182 drummer got a tattoo reading "Time Flies" in August 2023 after taking his 30th flight since surviving his 2008 plane crash.
Taylor Lautner & Tay Lautner
In March 2023, the Twilight actor and his wife got matching tattoos honoring their wedding date.
Amanza Smith
The Selling Sunset star debuted a face tattoo, which read "invincible" in script and sits beneath her jawline, in April 2022.
Shawn Mendes
The "Stitches" singer debuted a tattoo on the back of his neck in March 2022.
Maisie Williams
After filming Game of Thrones' final season, the actress added some symbolic ink to her tattoo collection in loving memory of her character Arya Stark.
Emilia Clarke
Forever MOD! The Game Of Thrones star permanently inked a dragon tattoo on her wrist after wrapping the final season of the show.
Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner
While celebrating their engagement in 2018, the Jonas Brothers singer and the Game of Thrones alum got matching Toy Story tattoos. They pair broke up in 2023 after four years of marriage.