The Beatles are credited with being the first to do many things such as printing lyrics on a pop album, creating music videos and holding a stadium concert, but most bizarre is their role in the “devil horns” hand gesture taking off. John Lennon’s cartoon figure on the Yellow Submarine cover is apparently the first time the symbol was on the cover of an album and is one of the earliest instances associated with a rock band, ever.
Horns up, Metal Heads! KnuckleBonz is excited to announce its production of the Ronnie James Dio Rock Iconz® statue – an officially licensed product, approved and endorsed by Wendy Dio and Niji Entertainment. Wendy Dio remarked about the project, “Ronnie would be very proud.” KnuckleBonz is honored to be creating a tribute piece of Ronnie James Dio, widely recognized as one of the most powerful singers in all of heavy metal.
The Ronnie James Dio Statue, part of KnuckleBonz music-based sculpture series: Rock Iconz, is a hand-crafted sculpture of Dio posed flashing his signature devil horns, in a familiar crouched stance. A portion of all sales made from the KnuckleBonz site will be donated to the Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund created in honor of Ronnie James Dio.
“We learned that Ronnie wanted to work on a statue project before he fell ill. We are honored that Wendy Dio and his management called on us for this project,” remarks Tony Simerman, President and Creative Director of KnuckleBonz, Inc. “It’s been a real pleasure to work with Ronnie’s family and the people at Niji on this project. I was a fan of Ronnie’s very early and owned all the original Rainbow records. I was fortunate enough to see him out in front of Sabbath. RJD was one of the greatest live performers I have ever seen,” adds Simerman.
The statue will be sold directly from KnuckleBonz Dot Com and through select retailers worldwide. Scheduled to ship in December 2010, The Ronnie James Dio Rock Iconz Statue can be preordered at This Link. Created at 1/9 scale, making the figure approximately 8” tall on top of a wooden display base, this highly collectible, limited edition statue was created in a series of 3000 pieces only. Priced at $115.00, each figure in the edition is hand-painted, numbered and includes a certificate of authenticity. Order now so you won’t be “the last in line” to get your hands on one.
Ronnie James Dio lost his fight with cancer on the morning of May 16th, 2010. He was 67 years old. Ronnie James popularized the heavy metal “devil horns” gesture, and for that he deserves a place among the angels. Rock on, Holy Diver.
Metal maestro Ronnie James Dio – commonly considered to be the “inventor” of the Devil Horns / Throwing Metal hand sign that is so popular in the heavy metal community – was born on this day, July 10th, in 1942! Metal! \m/