<P> Terry "Geezer" Butler of Black Sabbath can be seen "raising the horns" in a photograph taken in 1971 . The photograph is included in the CD booklet of the Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970--1978 compilation album . This would indicate that there had been some association between the "horns" and heavy metal before Dio's popularization of it . </P> <P> When asked if he was the one who introduced the hand gesture to metal subculture, Dio said in a 2001 interview with Metal-Rules.com: </P> <P> I doubt very much if I would be the first one who ever did that . That's like saying I invented the wheel, I'm sure someone did that at some other point . I think you'd have to say that I made it fashionable . I used it so much and all the time and it had become my trademark until the Britney Spears audience decided to do it as well . So it kind of lost its meaning with that . But it was...I was in Sabbath at the time . It was a symbol that I thought was reflective of what that band was supposed to be all about . It's NOT the devil's sign like we're here with the devil . It's an Italian thing I got from my Grandmother called the "Malocchio". It's to ward off the Evil Eye or to give the Evil Eye, depending on which way you do it . It's just a symbol but it had magical incantations and attitudes to it and I felt it worked very well with Sabbath . So I became very noted for it and then everybody else started to pick up on it and away it went . But I would never say I take credit for being the first to do it . I say because I did it so much that it became the symbol of rock and roll of some kind . </P> <P> Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS attempted to claim the "devil horns" hand gesture for his own . According to CBS News, "Simmons filed an application on Friday, June 16, 2017 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a trademark on the hand gesture he regularly uses during concerts and public appearances - thumb, index and pinky fingers extended, with the middle and ring fingers folded down . According to Simmons, this hand gesture was first used in commerce--by him--on Nov. 14, 1974 . He is claiming the hand gesture should be trademarked for "entertainment, namely live performances by a musical artist (and) personal appearances by a musical artist ." Simmons abandoned this application on June 21, 2017 </P>

What does the rock on sign mean in sign language