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Justin Bieber, Famed Tattoo Artist Eyeing 40,000 Feet Guinness World Record

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 02:32 PST, Mar 24, 2014

Justin Bieber loves a tattoo. He also likes breaking records. Now it seems, he and one of his favorite tattoo artists could set a Guinness world record for “highest altitude tattoo” at 40,000 feet.

The tattoo’s backstory isn’t amusing, but it’s likely key to understanding why Bieber selected the particular tattoos he chose.

On January 28 — just five days after the then 19-year-old singer was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Miami Beach — Justin and crew jetted to Canada in his private jet from Panama, Central America.

During the four-hour flight, famed New York City tattooist Keith ‘Bang Bang‘ McCurdy inked two tattoos on Bieber at the aforementioned 40,000 feet.

The illustrated superstar had a cross tattooed on his chest and the word “Forgive” put on the right side of his stomach.

According to TMZ, Bieber later texted Bang Bang post-flight, explaining,

“Forgiveness is powerful, forgive as Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins.”

Bang Bang told the New York Daily News the pair hope their miles-high endeavor will earn them a place in Guinness World Record for the “highest altitude tattoo” and is contacting the organization.

“I’m trying to see if we broke a record because we filmed it and documented it, it would be a cool record to have broken, the highest altitude tattoo,” he told The News.

“I’ve heard that somebody did a tattoo on an airplane once, but normal airlines fly 33-35,000 feet and we were at 40,000 ft so I think we might have done the highest altitude tattoo ever. It was fun and we felt like we did something nobody had ever done.”

“It was really difficult,” Bang Bang said of the tattooing, adding that he began inking around an hour and half into the flight.

“The plane was shaking, so it’s like trying to do a tattoo while you’re driving over rocks.. and so I have to compensate and be so, so accurate.”

The tattoo artist has inked Bieber many times before and can boast Rihanna, Katy Perry and many more, among clients at his New York City salon.

“I’ve gotta admit that my adrenaline was through the roof. I didn’t anticipate it would be so difficult,” he told the outlet, reportedly finding the high altitude-session “thrilling.”

“It was extremely bumpy and the pilot would call back to us and say ‘Hey we’ve got a little bit of turbulence coming up.’ We were trying to find the pockets when the plane was smooth.”

“This was the most difficult tattoo I’ve ever done for sure,” Bang Bang said.

For all the trouble he and Bieber went to, he revealed, “The cross took about 30 minutes, and the other one was about 15.”

Asked if Justin was apprehensive, the tatooist said: “He trusts me, so he knows if I say I can do it, I can do it.”

Do you know of other tattooists who have inked at high altitudes, and do you think Bieber and Bang Bang have any competition for the record of “highest altitude tattoo”?

To view more pictures of Bieber’s tattoo session on the jet and since, click under highlights.

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