When it comes to a celebrity getting pierced, much more than just the look gets taken into account. For someone who’s job is singing or acting, you have to be very careful about what you choose to pierce and how it will affect both your image, and your ability to perform. The key trend seems to be simplicity; no matter what is pierced it’s rare to see someone who has more than one or maybe two piercings on or around their face. Keeping your look clean while still maintaining the edge and uniqueness of a piercing is key for the scrutiny of the popular spotlight.
Understandably, the most common piercing is the ears. While most choose to go with a standard 18 gauge piercing to allow them to add a bit of bling to their look, it’s becoming more common to see stretched piercings and higher gauge plugs in the ears of celebrities. As much as it’s been a standard and common practice in the punk and hardcore scenes for singers like Davey Havoc of AFI and Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember, the spread to more mainstream and hip hop music is gradually taking place, as artists like Christofer Drew of NeverShoutNever! And Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes take the plunge.
The most common facial piercing making it’s way into the norm is the lip piercing. Snake bites, monroes and labrets have become more and more common, and seeing a celebrity like Lil’ Wayne rocking a labret stud in his lip is becoming a standard. While artists like Davey Havok have been known for their lip rings for years, Travie has gone through the ever-changing processing of getting pierced and then taking them out, at different times having his labret, Monroe, and snakes bites done depending on his current feel and look.
Now while it’s definitely trickier, some dare to go for more career affecting piercings. From The Game to members of Good Charlotte, getting the tongue pierced is a risky and hard to master option. When your job depends on how you speak, putting a piece of metal directly in the way of that can be a difficult goal to pass off, but for the artist who wants more metal without cluttering up their face, it’s a more than viable option.
The moral of the celebrity story is to keep it clean. Too many piercings in too little of an area just leaves things looking cluttered, while a well positioned nose ring, or even a series of piercings along the ear like Lenny Kravitz, leaves a classy addition, not a spectacle. People don’t like them because of what’s in their face, they like the face as it is. So make sure that the jewelry is a compliment, and doesn’t decide how you look.