Ariana Grande Updated Her Japanese Tattoo Typo — But It's Still Not Quite Right (2024)

Ariana Grande has attempted to fixed her new tattoo, after learning that it didn’t actually say what she intended it to say.

The pop star, 25, had made headlines on Tuesday when she first showed off her latest ink, two Japanese characters on the palm of her hand which she thought translated to “7 Rings” — the same name of her most recent breakup anthem. But fans quickly pointed out that Grande was missing a few characters, with the two letters actually meaning “small, charcoal grill.”

Grande embraced the mistake, joking that she was a “huge fan of tiny BBQ grills” in a since-deleted tweet.

She then apologized for the blunder (“tryna learn here“) and consulted with a Japanese-fluent friend to fix it, documenting their conversations in a series of Instagram Stories.

By Wednesday, Grande had a plan in place to return to Los Angeles tattoo artist Kane Navasard and fix the error. Later that evening, she shared a photo of the updated tattoo to her Instagram Stories.

“Slightly better,” she wrote on the photo. “Thanks to my tutor for helping me fix and to @kanenavasard for being a legend. And to my doctor for the [anesthetic] shots (no joke).”

Of course, Grande couldn’t leave off her note without a mention of her former tattoo’s meaning. “RIP tiny charcoal grill,” she said. “Miss you man. I actually really liked you.”

But a Japanese speaker clarifies to PEOPLE that her tattoo fix isn’t quite right, as from left to right it says “small charcoal grill” and from top to bottom it says “seven fingers.”

The singer’s ink saga prompted several social media users to playfully poke fun at Grande.

“my life is currently going exactly like ariana grande‘s 7 rings tattoo journey in that i keep trying to fix it but accidentally keep making it worse,” one person tweeted.

Added another: “why aren’t we roasting Ariana as much as all of those other people who get Asian character tattoos for “live love laugh” and get ‘chicken noodle soup.'”

“Did Ariana get a tattoo or did the tattoo get her?” someone else tweeted.

Grande is no stranger to getting tattoos, or getting old ones covered-up.

She’s been doing a lot of the latter recently, after her whirlwind romance to ex-fiancé Pete Davidson ended in October. The couple got nine tattoos together, and post-breakup, Grande has found creative ways to transform the original design.

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In December, Grande revealed that she had turned a tribute to Davidson’s father (firefighter Scott Davidson, who died during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City) into a tribute to her ex-boyfriend, the late rapper Mac Miller — turning Davidson’s dad’s badge number, “8418,” into Myron, the name of Miller’s dog.

Miller adopted Myron, a pitbull mix, in 2017 from Wylder’s Holistic Pet Center through The Wagmor, a pet hotel in Los Angeles, while he was still dating the singer. The former couple split in May after two years together. After Miller died of an apparent overdose in September, Grande was seen cuddling with Myron, prompting speculation that she may have adopted his dog.

Meanwhile, Grande released “7 Rings” — from her upcoming fifth album, Thank U, Next, out Feb. 8 — earlier this month.

The R&B track was heavily inspired by “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music and it speaks to Grande’s strong friendships and new sense of independence following a difficult year.

The singer previously revealed in a tweet that the “7 Rings” belonged to her best pals, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Courtney Chipolone, Njozma, Alexa Luria, and Kaydence, who were all featured in the music video.

She also explained that her mother Joan Grande and her Nonna Marjorie Grande also own rings, making the total nine — “but they got theirs after song was done,” Grande said.

Grande first opened up about the inspiration behind “7 Rings” in her Billboard “Woman of the Year” cover story in December.

“It was a… challenging fall day in New York,” Grande told the music magazine of writing the track, likely alluding to her the aftermath of her breakup with Davidson. “Me and my friends went to Tiffany’s together, just because we needed some retail therapy.

“You know how when you’re waiting at Tiffany’s they give you lots of champagne? They got us very tipsy, so we bought seven engagement rings, and when I got back to the studio I gave everybody a friendship ring,” she explained. “That’s why we have these, and that’s where the song idea came from.”