Famous music elitist and noted curmudgeon, Gene Simmons, doubled down on his character this week and did so with the simple stroke of a pen. Armed with a legal team, the former Kiss frontman claimed ownership of the “devil horns” hand gesture, and thusly evolved into a full-fledged pop culture villain. Yes that’s right, Gene “Family Jewels” Simmons is attempting to trademark the omnipresent gesture, because why the hell not apparently?
The 67-year-old rockstar has officially filed an application with the United States Patent and TradeMark Office, and one can assume that he plans to be the biggest buzzkill in the history of entertainment. In case you’re still in utter disbelief, Gene breaks it down for everyone in the aforementioned document, and confirms that he does intend to make the symbol, which is widely regarded as public domain, his very own trademark move.
According to the proposed documents, the devil horns are defined as such: “The mark consists of a hand gesture with the index and small fingers extended upward and the thumb extended perpendicular.” Simmons points out that he first used the horns back in 1974, when Kiss was in the midst of recording their second studio album, Hotter Than Hell. The bassist also casually flashed the gesture on the cover of 1977’s Love Gun.
All of this information checks out, but a simple Google search of the hand technique reveals that it has been practiced for centuries. Some of the earliest instances can be found in ancient depictions of apotropaic magic, as well as rituals found in Peru and the Dominican Republic. It has also been known to evoke curses in Italian cultures, where it is associated with the “Evil Eye”.
With all of that in mind, it may take an impressive erasing of history and some serious convincing in order for Gene Simmons to prove to patent lawyers that he made up “devil horns”. In the meantime, he can go back to remembering his glory days when not everyone thought he was an asshole.
