Rainbow and Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James “Dio,” Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrel Abbot, Rush drummer Neil Ellwood Peart, Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, VH guitarist Eddie Van Helen
I don't know ho that is or why one is making the devil horn sign.
I assume they're dead and burning in hell like they wanted. They probably burned more than one person in life with those reversed morals of drugs, slut sex and pro death.
Ronnie was saying, 'When I'm going on stage, everybody is doing the peace sign to me, and that's an Ozzy thing. I feel like I should be doing something back to them.' He says, 'What's that sign that you do in 'Black Sabbath'?' And I showed him the devil horns sign. And he started doing it from there and made it famous.”
His widow was giving the same origin story he attests to in the video clip. The other part of the article has a bandmate trying to take credit. In the video Dio throws shade at a bandmate that would claim he invented air if he could get away with it.
Dio's an interesting one because later in his career he spoke about the hidden Christian messages in his music. Like holy diver's "clean stripes" being a reference to Christ, etc.
I did read the whole article, and I'm not even disagreeing with your overall point, but you can see why people believe it's the devil horns - Dio himself called it that, in a direct quote, when explaining the origin of its fame.
The article I linked doesn't give a direct quote. The context here is that even if he appeared to be doing something evil that wasn't the substance of what he was putting forward.
When @yesIknow supposed he was in hell leading from the premise that he used the sign. My point was essentially just to say "Let's abstain from judgement here. He was Christian and claimed the sign was not something to invoke evil. His explanations and music content are at least consistent with someone trying to advocate for Christianity"
If you think about the concept of the inverted cross, that is another symbol that has a pro-Christian meaning that was eventually reinvented to mean something evil.
What I'm saying is that despite someone taking on the appearance of evil (1 Thes 5:22) it is possible that a) by substance they were good all along or b) that they have repented of their old ways.
I'm just saying it isn't a guarantee Dio would be in hell, not by the hand gesture alone.
Not everyone is going to interpret the gesture as an idolization or tribute to Satan.
You can make your reality subservient to words, but not others.
Ditto, friend. That line cuts both ways. I am only presenting what I feel is a fair criticism to your remark. And in that light, I would hope that if I overlook something by my thoughts that someone offers a fair criticism in order to get me on the right path too.
I would rather be proven wrong than continue in ignorant acceptance of an untruth.
I agree you can criticize the gesture on the basis of "evil appearances" especially in the context of the band's name, but the matter of Dio's post-life destination is one I'm less hasty to speak to, especially by the evidence that he leaned into being more open about his Christianity in later years. His openness about accepting Christ and the pieces of evidence he sprinkled throughout his music to suggest he was a closet-Christian is enough to give me pause to at least concede that the seed was there even if he hypothetically had darker moments.
[ + ] Anus_Expander
[ - ] Anus_Expander 1 point 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 08:31:19 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] dingbat
[ - ] dingbat 1 point 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 00:01:46 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Trope
[ - ] Trope 1 point 2 monthsApr 5, 2025 22:59:33 ago (+1/-0)
This was my first exposure to Dio and I immediately loved it.
[ + ] Benji1369
[ - ] Benji1369 0 points 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 02:05:46 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Reunto
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[ + ] RabbiKinderschtupper
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[ + ] TheOriginal1Icemonkey
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[ + ] yesiknow
[ - ] yesiknow -1 points 2 monthsApr 5, 2025 21:54:02 ago (+0/-1)
I assume they're dead and burning in hell like they wanted. They probably burned more than one person in life with those reversed morals of drugs, slut sex and pro death.
[ + ] RabbiKinderschtupper
[ - ] RabbiKinderschtupper 1 point 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 08:53:38 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Reunto
[ - ] Reunto 0 points 2 monthsApr 12, 2025 20:02:15 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Reunto
[ - ] Reunto 0 points 2 monthsApr 5, 2025 21:58:03 ago (+0/-0)
https://www.myradiolink.com/2021/06/20/ronnie-james-dios-widow-explains-the-origin-of-devils-horns-hand-gesture/
[ + ] Whatthefuck
[ - ] Whatthefuck 0 points 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 00:27:20 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Reunto
[ - ] Reunto 0 points 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 04:17:36 ago (+0/-0)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5PXmSkLYMTI
And he talks about it in other interviews too.
[ + ] Whatthefuck
[ - ] Whatthefuck 0 points 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 12:08:08 ago (+0/-0)
I don't actually care either way, for whatever it's worth, I just thought it was odd.
[ + ] Reunto
[ - ] Reunto 0 points 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 16:47:15 ago (+0/-0)
His widow was giving the same origin story he attests to in the video clip. The other part of the article has a bandmate trying to take credit. In the video Dio throws shade at a bandmate that would claim he invented air if he could get away with it.
Dio's an interesting one because later in his career he spoke about the hidden Christian messages in his music. Like holy diver's "clean stripes" being a reference to Christ, etc.
[ + ] Whatthefuck
[ - ] Whatthefuck 0 points 2 monthsApr 6, 2025 18:38:08 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] Reunto
[ - ] Reunto 0 points 2 monthsApr 8, 2025 11:21:43 ago (+0/-0)
When @yesIknow supposed he was in hell leading from the premise that he used the sign. My point was essentially just to say "Let's abstain from judgement here. He was Christian and claimed the sign was not something to invoke evil. His explanations and music content are at least consistent with someone trying to advocate for Christianity"
If you think about the concept of the inverted cross, that is another symbol that has a pro-Christian meaning that was eventually reinvented to mean something evil.
[ + ] yesiknow
[ - ] yesiknow 0 points 2 monthsApr 8, 2025 15:55:22 ago (+0/-0)
Black sabbath doesn't mean holy niggers
[ + ] Reunto
[ - ] Reunto -1 points 2 monthsApr 8, 2025 16:26:36 ago (+0/-1)
I'm just saying it isn't a guarantee Dio would be in hell, not by the hand gesture alone.
Not everyone is going to interpret the gesture as an idolization or tribute to Satan.
Ditto, friend. That line cuts both ways. I am only presenting what I feel is a fair criticism to your remark. And in that light, I would hope that if I overlook something by my thoughts that someone offers a fair criticism in order to get me on the right path too.
I would rather be proven wrong than continue in ignorant acceptance of an untruth.
I agree you can criticize the gesture on the basis of "evil appearances" especially in the context of the band's name, but the matter of Dio's post-life destination is one I'm less hasty to speak to, especially by the evidence that he leaned into being more open about his Christianity in later years. His openness about accepting Christ and the pieces of evidence he sprinkled throughout his music to suggest he was a closet-Christian is enough to give me pause to at least concede that the seed was there even if he hypothetically had darker moments.