Johnny Stevens is the name that comes into mind when we talk about the famous American band, ‘Highly Suspect.’ Johnny was born and brought up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. Johnny is the lead guitarist of the band, whose debut album managed to fetch the band’s first nomination for Best Rock Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. Johnny is quite famous for his hugely inked body. From head to toe, he has got ample inks done. Let us explore each of his body tattoos and see why each one is important for him.
1. Right Arm Tattoo
Tattoo: Johnny’s right arm is covered with the design speculated to be a spider. The arm piece includes the spider and the spider web inked in shades of green and black. Spider is the symbol of luck, hard work, wisdom, harmony, and fertility. Spider web is the way of showing the time spent by the tattoo wearer in prison. However, it is not the case every time and with every tattoo lover wearing the web tattoo.
It shows resourcefulness, intelligence, and the ability to be self-protective.
2. Bicep Design
3. Left Bicep
Tattoo: Johnny has got some mysterious designs inked on his left upper arm. Along with them is the Tattoo of some religious figure inked in blue.
4. Skull on Chest
Tattoo: Across his chest, Johnny has got the tattoo of a skull with wings on his head. The winged skull seems to guard the anchor that is inked right below the skull.
Meaning: Skull is the symbol of evil, death, and bad omen. Some people also consider the skull to symbolize strength, which leads them towards their future by smoothly overcoming all the hard luck and the difficult phases of life. On the other hand, an anchor is the symbol of strength, determination, good luck, stability, peace, strength, determination, passion, hope, and direction. It motivates an individual to ‘stay strong.’
A skull and anchor, when combined, give a shape of a skull anchor, where the skull is designed to protect the anchor. It is most commonly seen on pirates and is used to symbolize ‘death.’ Hereby illustrating danger and death, all together.
5. Cross on Thumb
Tattoo: On his left hand’s thumb, Johnny has got a tiny cross inked.
Meaning: Cross is the Holy symbol of Christians. It represents the person’s intense devotion and faith towards Christianity, the expression of unconditional love, and the tribute to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sake of humanity.
6. Eagle Tattoo
Tattoo: On the center of his neck, Johnny has a magnificent tattoo of an eagle with its wings spread towards the sides.
Meaning: Eagle symbolizes the mighty power. It represents the urge to fly high, reach the heights of success, and achieve the independence which the tattoo wearer seeks in his life. Eagle is the reflection of qualities like dominance, power, luck, clarity, focus, spirituality and is also popular as the enemy of evil.
7. Face Tattoos
Tattoo: On the right side of his right eye, Johnny has got some tiny tattoos done, including the red outlined heart and the number 11.
8. Face Tattoo
Tattoo: towards the left side of his face, there is an upside-down sword inked.
Meaning: A dagger with the face downwards represents masculinity and may also reflect power, courage, determination, strength, and a symbol of strength.
9. Face Tattoos
Tattoo: There are some tiny tattoos inked on Johnny’s left cheek which include, three black dots under his left eye, a criss-cross with alphabets, MCID, and the symbol that shows a circle with a cross on the bottom.
Meaning: A circle with a cross on the bottom is the symbol of the female sex. The three black dots tattoo is a common prison tattoo that stands for “mi Vida Loca” or “my crazy life.” The three dots are often confused with being the gang symbol but, it is not so. It is the mere representation of the gang lifestyle and is usually inked around the eyes. The acronym MCID stands for’My Crew Is Dope’.
10. Writing on Face
Tattoo: Under his right eye, he has got the Tattoo of the word, “свобода” which stands for independence/freedom in Russian.
11. Finger Tattoos
Tattoo: Across his knuckles, Johnny has another writing that says, ‘MY CREW IS dOPE.’
Meaning: This is another tattoo dedication by Johnny to his studio album, My Crew is Dope, often regarded and represented as MCID in other of his body tattoos. It is the third studio album released by the American rock band, Highly Suspect.
“That’s our ethos,” says Johnny of the acronym that stands for “My Crew Is Dope.
“When we moved to New York from Cape Cod, we had this big going away pool party,” he said. “I had my buddy come over with a tattoo gun, and I just love my friends. I spent my whole life weeding out negative people and I only hand out with positive that like to help each other, so that’s my crew you know. I have that tattooed right on my knuckles. That’s kind of like my way to show them that I love them and miss them when we moved away.”
12. Finger Tattoo
13. Blooming Lotus Tattoo
Tattoo: On his right forearm, there is a blooming lotus inked.
Meaning: Blooming lotus is the representation of spiritual enlightenment and personal growth. It also stands for purity, growth, strength, and grace.
14. Live Free Tattoo
Tattoo: On his lower chin, Stevens has got another writing inked. It is done in italicized font and says, ‘Live Free.’
Meaning: The Tattoo speaks of Stevens’ personality. He is known to be an independent person, taking ahead his dreams and fulfilling each wish of his without worrying about the boundaries of society. This is what the tiny Tattoo is about and says it loud!
15. Hand Tattoo
Tattoo: We can see the Tattoo of a roaring tiger inked on Stevens’ left hand.
Meaning: A tiger is the representation of danger, vengeance, or punishment; however, a roaring tiger is often selected to showcase the courageous and powerful personality of the tattoo wearer. Now, we know why Johnny has got such meaningful tattoos on his body. They are truly the reflection of his personality.
16. ‘Just go for It’ Tattoo
Tattoo: On his inner left arm, Johnny has a tattoo that says, ‘Just go For It’.It is a motivational aspect that shows that the person should go for something if he feels like doing it or wishes to achieve his goal. Life is an unexpected journey with an unknown end, and thus, if your wish to do/have something, JUST GO FOR IT.
17. Left Pec Tattoo
18. AXE Tattoo
Tattoo: Another symbol of outrageous strength and values is tattooed on Johnny’s left hand. It is an axe that is inked on his right hand. An ax symbolizes strength, sacrifice, and power. As per the traditional beliefs, an ax is regarded as the symbol of battle and work and is also associated with water, lightning, fertility, along with the fact that an ax has the power of stopping or starting the rain.
19. Hand Tattoo
Tattoo: On the inner side of his left hand i.e. his palm, there is another tattoo dedication to his band. Yes, that is the third piece on his body which is dedicated to his band/crew and says, ‘MCID’ (My Crew is Dope). It represents the third studio album by the American rock band, Highly Suspect, released on November 1, 2019.
When asked about the close relationship among the band members and why Highly Suspect is so special to everyone Johnny said,
“A couple of years later we were at a party one day and we started to hang out. We ended up hanging out every day for years. He moved into my house a couple of months later. We’ve been living together ever since!” “You don’t get to choose your family!” agrees Johnny. “This [band] feels like that!”
“I spent my whole life weeding out negative people and I only hand out with positive that like to help each other, so that’s my crew you know. I have that tattooed right on my knuckles. That’s kind of like my way to show them that I love them and miss them when we moved away.”
20. Tattoos on the right hand
Tattoo: On his right hand, Johnny has the Tattoo of the number ‘1676’.
22. Tattoos on the left hand
Tattoo: On his left hand, we can see the numbers; ‘4130’.
23. Portrait of a girl
Tattoo: On his leg, there is a side portrait of a girl inked.
24. Right Pec Tattoo
25. Roses on Chest
Tattoo: There are tattoos inked across Johnny’s chest, one on either side. It shows the rose inks. Rose is the symbol of love, romance, passion, friendship, and passion. The Red Rose is the universal symbol of love, whereas a white rose represents purity, freshness, and mysticism.
26. Roses on Shoulders
Tattoo: Supporting the side of his eagle tattoo, there is a rose inked on either side of his neck. Roses are the symbol of love, affection, friendship, romance, and relationships between couples. The roses on Johnny’s shoulders are actually linked to the feet of eagle.
27. Star on Elbow
Tattoo: A five-pointed star is inked on Jonny’s right elbow.
Meaning: Star, the symbol of guidance, luck, and direction, is a common tattoo choice among basic tattoo lovers. A five-pointed or a nautical star is the symbol of protection.
The tattoo 3 dots under Johnny Steven eye is not gang related. He said they represent his first 3 album releases.