Ronnie James Dio Re-Claims The Devil Horns

05/30/02 4:30pm

by Neil Haverty (CHARTattack)

There's nothing we want more than to hang out with Ronnie James Dio for a day, just one precious day. Regardless of what happens, we're absolutely certain that we'd come away with something magical. Metal memories to last a lifetime. We're betting that things would go one of two ways: Dio could be the dark lord he claims to be, in which case we would get to take part in some strange spiritual sacrifice in a lovely dungeon-like setting. But, more likely, the Dio we know and love is just a persona and he's actually a regular over-the-hill rocker that drives the kids to their soccer games and likes to sit back and catch an episode of Ally McBeal now and then. Either way, we're sure he's a helluva guy.

But Dio is looking to keep this whole "evil" thing up — recently making it known that he's upset his homage to the devil has been stolen by the teenybopper generation. That's right, Dio is claiming to have invented the "Devil's Horns" hand signal and he's out to take it back to its true home: The gloomy underworld of heavy metal.

"It was a symbol of darkness... not something to be passed on to BRITNEY SPEARS!" Dio recently told Kerrang! Magazine (the uppercase letters and exclamation points mean he's really upset about it). He went on to say that it has become an overblown trend, prophesizing that if things are going to continue down the same road, metal's widely known hand gesture will "probably become like the hula hoop." Though it might not be the clearest way to say that the fad will die out if it's overused, we get your point Dio.

We're reluctant to side with Dio ('cause he seems a tiny bit crazy), but we have to agree that people are using the hand sign way too frequently lately. In our day, the metal sign was something saved for special occasions like weddings and job interviews, but kids are flashing it around every chance they get. Hell, even Simple Plan singer Pierre Bouvier proudly displays the "devil's horns" on the cover of CHART's upcoming June issue. Does Dio get the credit for it? No! Hey... a couple of the Simple Plan guys are puckering their lips! Somebody should give Mick Jagger a call to let him know that the teen generation is stealing his bit. Aging rockers unite! Take back your swagger! Reclaim your evil hand gestures!

Dio seems to have given up hope, distressed by the fact that the kids can't even get it right. "You'll notice that a lot of people are using the thumb now" he noted, "When the thumb comes out, it means 'I love you' in either Hawaiian or sign language — I'm not sure which." He's finding it hard to use the symbol at shows lately, usually waiting until the two or three songs into his set to break it out. "There has to be some emotion behind it... It might sound stupid but I never once did that on stage unless it was to punctuate something that was a little more dark."

If you can wait those two or three songs before seeing the hand sign, we suggest you check out Dio on tour:
July 4 Quebec City, QC @ L'Agora Du Vieux Port
July 5 Montreal, QC @ La Medley
July 6 Toronto, ON @ The Docks