Travis Barker’s 2021 skull-and-tulip tattoo is being re-examined as a possible quiet tribute to the baby daughter he and Kourtney Kardashian lost before they ever spoke of it publicly.
A fan resurfaced Barker’s May 2021 Instagram post showing the new ink this week on Reddit, sparking speculation that the design held hidden meaning. The Blink-182 drummer, 50, had shared a photo of a skull with a tulip replacing the crossbones, positioned over what had been an “S&T” tattoo referencing his ex-wife Shanna Moakler. Kardashian, 47, and Barker began dating in January 2021, and the Poosh founder became pregnant roughly six months into their relationship, as the couple later revealed in Barker’s documentary.
“I wonder if the tattoo that Travis got over his ‘S&T’ was less [of] a dig at his ex-wife and more of a tribute to the baby that he and Kourtney were going to name Tulip,” the Reddit user wrote alongside the re-shared photos.
Other Reddit users quickly embraced the theory. “OooOooOoo good eye! Totally seems likely,” one commenter wrote. “This is actually so heartwarming,” another added.
The timing aligns with what the couple disclosed in “Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear,” which premiered June 13 at the Tribeca Film Festival and began streaming on Hulu on August 13. Kardashian became pregnant shortly after they started dating in early 2021, they explained in the film. They learned they were expecting a baby girl and planned to name her Tulip, only to discover at the three-month appointment that she no longer had a heartbeat.
“When we lost the baby, we were devastated,” Kardashian said in the documentary. “We cried for days.”
The couple’s path to parenthood was grueling. Kardashian detailed five failed IVF cycles and three egg retrievals over roughly a year before they stopped trying. “I stopped after a year of trying (5 failed IVF cycles, 3 retrievals) my body relaxed and I believed in God’s plan for my life,” she wrote on Instagram Stories in May 2024. “Lots of prayers for whatever was meant to be for us.”
She clarified in a follow-up post that she conceived their son “100% naturally, NOT through IVF… One year after stopping IVF actually. Through God’s blessing on Valentine’s Day.”
In the viral moment that preceded their eventual joy, Kardashian announced her pregnancy with Rocky at Barker’s Blink-182 concert in Los Angeles on June 16, 2023, holding up a handwritten sign reading “Travis I’m pregnant” while he performed onstage. The announcement recreated a scene from the band’s 2009 “All The Small Things” music video. She later revealed she had framed the sign for their home, sharing a photo of it on Instagram Story on July 1 with the simple caption, “The sign.”
The couple welcomed Rocky Thirteen Barker in November 2023. Barker has continued his tradition of memorializing family through body art, previously sharing a Snapchat photo of a stencil reading “Rocky” that appeared to be for another tattoo. He has numerous tattoos honoring loved ones, including his late mother Gloria, whose portrait and the word “Mom” appear on his body.
Kardashian and Barker, who made their relationship Instagram official in February 2021 and married in May 2022, have built a blended family of seven children. She shares Mason, 16, Penelope, 14, and Reign, 11, with ex Scott Disick. Barker shares Landon, 22, Alabama, 20, and helped raise former stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, 27, with Moakler.
Barker is set to continue touring with Blink-182, with upcoming shows scheduled across North America.