Celebrate National Emo Day with 45 Epic Tattoos

Three cheers for December 19th, also known as National Emo Day. National Emo Day celebrates the music, movement and culture that impacted millions worldwide. Emo began during the mid-1980s and emerged out of the hardcore punk movement. Some of the pioneers of the genre were Rites of Spring and Embrace, who helped to establish personal and confessional themes found in this genre.

Emo continued to grow through the 1990s, but truly came into its own during the early to mid 2000s. This era allowed emo to grow from a music genre to a subculture, thanks to groups like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Hawthorne Heights. Emo became the dominant sounds of alternative music during this time and fans clung to the emotion, sensitivity and angst found in the genre’s lyrics.

Emo shifted during the mid to late 2010s, moving toward hip-hop via the emo rap subgenre. Emo rap borrowed from the themes and messages found in emo music, but brought in the beats and rapping found in hip-hop. So far, this genre has brought forth many celebrated musicians, including Lil Peep, XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD.

In honor of National Emo Day, take a peek at 45 tattoos inspired by the emo subculture in the gallery below. Then let us know your favorite emo group in the comments section on social media.