'I got really sick': Machine Gun Kelly reveals brutal reality behind 'near impossible' tattoo

Machine Gun Kelly, who now goes by MGK on stage, was left seriously ill while trying to transform his body with a huge blackout tattoo. 

The singer, whose real name is Colson Baker, opened up about the gruelling process to cover his arms, chest and stomach in the bold design, pushing his body to the limit over a two-month period. 

“The same way I was reinventing my sound, I wanted to reinvent my body,” the 36-year-old told Billboard Canada. 

MGK explained celebrity tattoo artist ROXX is behind the “dark mode” tattoo, which covers most of his upper body, although the process to complete the work was meant to be two years. 

He pushed to get it done faster, and while she did it, it pushed his body to the limit and he got really sick. 

“She warned me that it was going to be near impossible, even from a pain tolerance standpoint,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Yeah, we got two months.’”

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MGK spent weeks undergoing daily tattoo sessions at ROXX’s studio in Los Angeles to get it done, leaving his body no time to heal. 

“After the first week, we hit my lymph nodes around my armpits and shoulders, and I got really sick,” he said. 

“My skin was turning yellow. I wasn’t able to sleep. I stopped being able to move certain parts of my upper body.”

But despite the pain and stress it was putting on his body he pushed forward and looked at the gruelling process as a challenge to overcome. 

“I came out the other side extremely inspired,” he said. 

“Not just because of what I had done, but because of what I had to overcome.”

MGK’s ink is definitely something that stands out, with complete black panels covering most of his upper body, and it’s clear that it took a lot of time to get it done. 

But he’s not done with tattoos yet despite what he’s previously put his body through, and earlier this year added another to his collection. 

In March MGK got his daughter Saga’s name tattooed in capital letters on the back of his right hand. 

The rocker shares Saga with his ex, Megan Fox, who were together for around four-and-a-half years. 

The former couple split in late 2024, but went on to welcome their daughter in March 2025, continuing to co-parent together.  

He also has a teenage daughter named Cassie from a previous relationship with Emma Cannon.