Mötley Crüe co-founder and bassist Nikki Sixx posted a new photo of himself displaying his famous Mick Mars tattoo which reminded the interesting story behind how he ended up having his bandmate’s portrait tattooed on his body.

As you might recall, Nikki Sixx made an unexpected decision to leave his house in Los Angeles and move to Wyoming permanently with his wife Courtney Sixx and their daughter Ruby. However, recently on Twitter, Sixx posted a picture while shopping during his short visit to Los Angeles and showed off with his famous Mick Mars tattoo on his leg.

Here’s what Nikki Sixx described his picture:

“Back in the city for a moment“

The latest photo Nikki posted on his Twitter account reminded the video of the time he got the Mick Mars tattoo and the story behind it. Back in 2008, while Sixx was dating with the tattoo artist Kat Von D, he appeared on an episode of Von D’s reality television show named ‘LA Ink‘ during which she gave him a tattoo of his dear friend and bandmate Mick Mars.

As you will see in the video below, Nikki and Kat decided to actualize the idea of Sixx getting the portait of his longtime friend tattooed on his leg without letting Mick know.

Here’s what Kat Von D stated about her then-boyfriend’s request:

“At first, when Nikki brought the idea of getting this tattoo done, I thought how cool it would be to celebrate a friendship between two people over three decades!

We decided it would be so rad to do the tattoo without telling Mick, so on the show, you’ll be able to see the tattoo process, as well as the entire High Voltage crew rockin it out at Crüe Fest in Los Angeles, which to me, was by far one of the greatest shows from the tour, amazing energy!”

Furthermore, Nikki Sixx explained that he wanted to get the tattoo since Mick Mars was a very special person to him and he wanted to honor their friendship with a tattoo of Mick’s portrait.

Here’s how Nikki Sixx commented on his thoughtful gesture:

“Kat tattooed a killer portrait of Mick Mars on my leg and we got to surprise him with it at the Los Angeles Crüe Fest show. It was a pretty emotional rollercoaster ride to share the whole experience with Katherine, from the beginning of the idea to the end when we finally show Mick.”

You can see the photo Nikki Sixx posted on his Twitter account.

You can watch the video of Nikki Sixx getting his Mick Mars tattoo on Youtube below.