Machine Gun Kelly Reveals Horrifying Side Effects of Shocking Blackout Tattoo — 'I Got Really Sick'
Machine Gun Kelly has revealed he became seriously ill after transforming his body with an elaborate blackout tattoo.
June 10 2026, Published 1:05 p.m. ET
Machine Gun Kelly became seriously ill after transforming his body with an elaborate blackout tattoo, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The musician, 36, claims he got sick after completing the inking in just two months, when the work for a tattoo of that size is recommended to take two years.
'My Skin Was Turning Yellow'
The musician detailed the scary health issues he suffered as a result of the tattoo.
The "dark mode" design covers most of his arms, chest, and back with a distinct cross shape imprinted on his torso.
MGK – real name Colson Baker – said that instead of taking breaks between sessions to let this body heal, he underwent almost daily tattoo sittings at Roxx's Los Angeles studio.
Speaking to Billboard Canada, he explained: "After the first week, we hit my lymph nodes around my armpits and shoulders, and I got really sick.
"My skin was turning yellow. I wasn't able to sleep. I stopped being able to move certain parts of my upper body."
'I Wanted To Reinvent My Body'
The rapper told how he wanted his entire body to be transformed.
MKL shows off his dramatic body transformation.
Despite the concerning side effects and toll it was clearly taking on his body, the rapper persevered and treated the side effects as obstacles in his pursuit of transformation.
"I came out the other side extremely inspired," he recalled. "Not just because of what I had done, but because of what I had to overcome."
On the design of the tattoo, which was completed by celebrity tattoo artist Roxx, he said: "The same way I was reinventing my sound, I wanted to reinvent my body."
"(Roxx) 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.'"
'Never Met A Tougher One'
Kelly's tattooist lauded the star's bravery.
Tattoo artist Roxx was proud of her artwork.
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Famed tattoo artist Roxx previously revealed to TMZ that the music star visited her studio four days a week for 13 six-hour sessions.
She posted a photo of the final product, explaining in her caption that she's "never met a tougher one" in MGK, to which he replied, "Thanks for the joy and the pain."
In his unveiling of the jaw-dropping blackout tattoo on Instagram back in 2024, MGK wrote: "For spiritual purposes only."
The rocker also shed light on the meaning behind his tattoos during an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show last year.
"I've realized through research that this is actually from someone who has extremely high anxiety," he said on the show.
"But in my head, it really interested me in redesigning the anatomy. You know the skin is the largest organ that we have."
MGK says he wanted to 'redesign what the human skin could look like.'
"I’ve already had all tattoos since I was 13. My whole body's been covered for a long time, and I wanted to redesign what the human skin could look like, so I came up with, well I didn’t, but a friend of mine named Roxx came up with this."
"It was the worst torture I’ve ever," he admitted when Hudson asked if it was unbearable.
"Yeah, I don't do, like, the going under and numbing and waking up, I don't do any of that. Yeah, I had to focus out, big mistake, but my morals stand."
