The Best ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Vids From Musicians

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has resoundingly hit cult movement status, as the polarising charity drive takes over the internet and an ever-growing list of high-profile celebrities, businesspeople, artists and everyday joes get behind the idea of sending your body into a brief state of near-hypothermic shock as your friends and/or family dump freezing water on your head and laugh like maniacs while your junk runs so far up inside you that you could passably imitate a piccolo if you wanted to.

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has become the latest celeb to achieve “BEST ONE YET” status for his video, a rather hilarious (if somewhat drawn out) parody of the iconic prom scene from ‘80s horror staple Carrie.

It’s pretty good, but other musos have been doing their part, too – maybe not as flashily or funnily, but the following vids are all pretty damn cool (absolutely no pun intended, we promise) in their own right:

Arguably the video that sent this whole thing screaming into mainstream consciousness, Timberlake and a group of totally innocent people all take a bucket of freezing liquid to the face before the veteran performer passed the baton to Jimmy Fallon, who also brought along The Roots, Horatio Sanz, Steve Higgins and Rob Riggle for the ride.

Macklemore upped the ante earlier this week when he answered the challenge on-stage in front of thousands of screaming fans, taking a bucket of icy H₂O over the head while barely missing a beat of his performance. He’s not the only musician to get doused at a gig – Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, Ludacris and Chris Benante of Anthrax have also done the live drenching – but he was seemingly one of the first, and, damn, does he make it look the most like a giant party you actually want to be a part of.

The Soundwave-bound pop-punk luminaries earn their place here for a couple of reasons – a) because it’s unusually satisfying to see Pete Wentz get blindsided by a wave of ice water, and b) because Wentz make specific mention of the option to donate to the ALS Association, which, yes, might seem a little self-congratulatory, but at its base, is more actual awareness leant to the disease itself than most other participants have bothered to include.

If anyone ever tries to tell you that Eddie Vedder isn’t tough, make them watch this video. OK, yes, he gets kind of “adorable dad” beforehand and defers to his girls for nomination suggestions in the process, which is how One Direction’s Niall Horan ended up a target, but beyond that, just watch how long he stands there without freaking out while the bucket is dumped on him. It seems like an eternity. It is way longer than 95% of ALS challenge videos we have seen. Most people are jumping and screaming the second the first drop makes contact, but Vedder just stands there, arms crossed, looking totally unfazed by the fact his skin just felt sub-zero temperatures. What a badass.

You didn’t think we’d forget about Dre, did you? Ultra-points go to the revered rapper/producer/money factory for presenting one of the most professional-looking ALS challenge set-ups to date, with bonus praise thrown in for managing to remain hands-down – next to Vedder – the coolest motherfucker to have copped a volume of ice water from above, with his post-challenge quote, “I’ve gotta admit, it was a little bit shocking,” standing out as probably one of the greatest understatements of the whole drive.

The performers above join a litany of other music stars – including expat Australians Iggy Azalea and Keith Urban – to partake in the challenge, but one musician who isn’t having a bar of it is Odd Future’s Tyler, the Creator – have a read of what he had to say about it all here.