He's one of the most inked up celebrities but Zayn Malik surprised fans with his latest piece of artwork. The solo artist shared a black-and-white photo showing off his new face tattoo with a mysterious message, leading fans to speculate its meaning.
The smouldering snap shows the singer looking away from the camera with his new ink clearly on display. The new tattoo is an intricate parrot and floral piece with the letters M.O.M in the middle.
Zayn debuted his new tattoo on Friday
At first glance it may seem the 23-year-old is paying to tribute to his mother Trisha but on closer inspection, it may be more likely this is in reference to his first solo album, Mind Of Mine, as the star captioned the image after his new single: "Like I Would," he wrote on Instagram.
His new album will be released on 25 March – one year to the day since he announced his decision to leave One Direction.
The star's new album is out 25 March
The PillowTalk singer revealed the cover for his debut solo album and opted to use a cute childhood snap for the artwork, which he released during an appearance on US talk show The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
The cover shows Zayn as a child, smiling sweetly for a photo with his head resting in his hands. The major clue of who he grew up to be are the distinctive tattoos that cover his forearms and hands.
The singer entered the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number one
The star also managed to achieve something One Direction are yet to in their five year career; he entered the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number one, having previously only peaked at number two in the charts with his former bandmates.
PillowTalk has also become only the 25th song ever to debut at number one in the Hot 100, following in the footsteps of Adele's Hello.
Zayn will be especially proud of his success, as he has strayed from One Direction's pop sound for music he says he feels is "cooler" and that he believes in. "I don't think I could ever go back to being completely normal. I guess that's something I accepted, that this is as normal as it gets for me," Zayn said during an interview on Capital Radio. "I just want to make music that I believe in and music that I stand for."